Gadsden council votes to buy riverfront property

The Gadsden city council voted unanimously Tuesday to buy several acres of commercial property on Rainbow Drive. The site was most recently occupied by the Rainbow Cinemas, a theater that was torn down more than ten years ago.  The city will pay $1.75 million dollars for the acreage and the deal includes only parts of the property that have no buildings.
City officials did not indicate  what plans they have for the property, but developers considered locating a retail shopping center there some ten years ago.  The deal also includes entrance and exit pathways leftover from when a drive-in theater operated on the site more than 40 years ago.
According to Mayor Sherman Guyton, All but $10,000 of the money will come from a loan. money to pay back the ten year loan will come from a special tax incentive fund for four of the city's seven council districts. The money can be repaid early without penalty as people start buying or leasing property. The property was cleared in 1952 for the Rainbow Drive-In Theater, which operated on the site until 1977. In 1979, the Rainbow Cinemas opened on the site, but closed and was demolished..