More than a dozen residents and downtown business owners gathered Monday night at City Hall to talk about the future of a rundown lot on Main Street that has sat vacant for more than a decade.

The empty slab at 921 Main St. is better known as one of the city’s biggest headaches, after it purchased the lot in 2009. Before the city took it over, three businesses had burned to the ground on that site.

When rear and side walls on the property began crumbling, the city closed down public access to the lot indefinitely about a year ago. As the city struggled to find a way to repair the walls and decide how to develop the lot, it opted instead to transfer its ownership to the Bastrop Economic Development Corp., now charged with planning the future of the space.

The two options on the table: turn it into a pocket park for shoppers downtown or construct a building with room for retail, office and residential space.

At a public forum Monday, residents were split on what they would like to see for the empty lot.

Many downtown business owners were still sold on the idea of a public gathering space, yet others saw the need for commercial development on Main Street.

A Texas Historical Commission study conducted through the Town Square Initiative found the best option for the space was a mixed-use building with four residences and two ground floor retail spaces.

"While a public plaza can draw people and increase activity, it requires consistent programming and maintenance to be successful," the study said. "Conversely, infill construction offers two additional opportunities for new retailers on Main Street and four new urban residences, which will provide street activation, energy around the clock and an additional $500,000-plus in property tax valuation."

BEDC Executive Director Shawn Kirkpatrick said there are developers interested in the vacant space, despite some council members having said in the past the lot has "negative value," owing to its deteriorating conditions.

A recently completed engineering study found to simply repair the lot back to its previous condition would cost around $100,000.

In 2016, the Bastrop Central Appraisal District valued the property at $176,901. Now, the BEDC is asking for a second appraisal that takes in account the structural damages.

As part of the engineering report, consultants also looked into the cost to turn the lot into a pocket park or a building. While the building comes with the highest price tag — about $1.7 million — it might have the biggest payout for the city because of the added tax revenue, Kirkpatrick said.

The pocket park is estimated to cost around $168,000, yet the BEDC speculates it would require another $60,000 a year to program the space with events, live music and activities, plus about $25,000 annually for lawn care and maintenance. Engineers would also have to restore the walls every three to five years, adding to maintenance costs.

Still, many said they want to see a pocket park on the lot.

"From my point of view, it would be certainly a plus for my particular side of the street if there was merely a park there with access to the parking lot," Sandra Grawunder, who owns Caledonia Cottage Quilts on Main Street, said. "It would be nice if there were picnic tables and some nice trees. Let it be what it is, for shoppers who want to take a break, enjoy a sandwich. I don’t think we have to go into bands and public events for it to be a viable space for downtown Bastrop."

Donna Cunningham, another Main Street business owner, agreed.

"There are so many empty buildings on Main Street already," she said. "I think it still needs to be a green space. The programming is a fairly easy possibility if you get the right person to do it."

But for Richard and Anne Smarzik, who own jewelry store Relics next door to the lot, a building is still the best option. And they could, perhaps, have the most skin in the game.

In the past year alone, the couple has spent about $90,000 repairing their shared wall with the lot. They said Monday that, despite the repairs, they can still see cracks in the crumbling structure, which bring moisture into their business and rust their tools.

"Even if they repair it, it’s going to be constant upheaval," Anne Smarzik said.

"Let’s put a building on it," her husband added.

BEDC officials met with the Smarziks as well as the neighbors at Baxter’s on Main earlier in the week to share the engineering and state historical commission reports and get their feedback on the lot. On Tuesday, the BEDC planned to present similar information to the Main Street Design Committee.

The corporation will take all those opinions, along with public input submitted through commentary cards Monday night, and compile an executive summary to present to its board at their regular meeting on Feb. 27.

Anyone with additional feedback is asked to submit written comments to the BEDC by Friday. Kirkpatrick said his hope was to put out a request for proposals to any private or public entity that would want to develop the space, whether that be for a pocket park or infill development. The RFP would include criteria for both options, he said.