Industrial Authority plans to demolish a portion of Cassidy’s Garage downtown

A part of Macon’s downtown history will soon be history.

A portion of Cassidy’s Garage — the city’s first gas station at the corner of Broadway and Mulberry Street — will be demolished. The garage, which opened in 1915, closed four years ago this April.

Last fall, the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority paid $330,000 for the Cassidy property, which is actually three lots with several buildings added at different times. On Wednesday, the authority’s Properties Committee agreed to contract with Northeast Concrete Co. Inc. to demolish a portion of the garage. The cost is not to exceed $44,000.

“Northeast Concrete “agreed to crush and keep the brick for use by the authority or by the county,” committee Chairman Robby Fountain said.

The authority bought the property “in order to be able to develop this block,” said Kevin Brown, the authority’s attorney. The property is adjacent to the authority’s office on Mulberry. “The plan is to get a developer, of course, to do the construction of a new downtown space, whether it’s a combined retail and office, or just office or some other type.”

The plan is to take down the brick portion of the building closest to the authority’s office, Brown said. Then the concrete floors underneath the garage’s lifts will be removed and any contaminated dirt will be tested for hydraulic fluids to determine how much needs to be removed. Brown wasn’t sure when the demolition would begin.

Until the property is developed, it may be made into green space with some parking on it, he said.

Cassidy’s is a downtown landmark and was one of those places where attendants pumped gas into cars, checked the oil and washed the windshield of each customer. The first buildings were built where a hospital and livery stable used to be, according to a Telegraph article by columnist Ed Grisamore. Also, a room on the second floor of the original garage was where boxers used to train, including heavyweight boxer W.L. “Young” Stribling.

The garage managed to survive a major fire in 1966. And in 1996, Jack Kemp, the vice presidential candidate with Republican Bob Dole, made a campaign stop at the garage.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Industrial Authority plans to demolish a portion of Cassidy’s Garage downtown."