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The only thing it's being used for right now is a hangout for teen-agers.
Those who drive down Center Street regularly in the evenings have been witness to the kids who have made the empty lot at the intersection of Center and Detroit streets, Warsaw, their hangout.
"I'd like to see something done with the site," said Warsaw city planner Jeff Noffsinger.
So what exactly is being done with this property?
It was owned by Robert Earl and Beverly Jane Eherenman, who had a service station on that lot, Pinky's 76 Service Station, for 35 years. However, Beverly Eherenman, who schedules one of the routes for the Mobile Meals program, said she and her husband sold the lot on contract in 1997 to an oil company in Rochester, D&D Oil Co. Inc.
According to Eherenman, D&D Oil develops service stations and owns the Phillips 66 Service Station in Warsaw. However, D&D did not provide any information on their plans for the lot.
The representative who dealt with the Eherenmans, Denny Dial, could not be reached. The woman who answered the phone made it clear that Dial would be too busy to talk to the Times-Union. She did mention that the lot is for sale but then said it wasn't listed as being for sale.
A "for sale" sign was put on the property sometime Thursday or early today, however.
Beverly Eherenman said she didn't understand D&D's unwillingness to give out information. She said she's sent many people their way who wanted permission to use the lot for events.
According to Janie Cope, chief deputy of the Kosciusko County Auditor's Office, property taxes are being paid on the lot and Eherenman said all the pumps and tanks were pulled from the property when she and her husband closed their business.
In the meantime there are the kids who have claimed the lot as their hangout.
Eherenman sees no problem with the kids. "Kids have to have a place to hang out," she said.
Joe Hawn of the Warsaw Police Department said, "We like it. It's a good place for the kids to hang out as far as I'm concerned."
