By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Tenants of a Lisbon Street building have nothing to fear from the city, officials said Tuesday.

Councilors cleared the way for the city to take over several Lisbon Street lots, including the home of the Treasure Chest III adult book store at 308 Lisbon St.

That doesn’t mean the city is ready to make sweeping changes, said Greg Mitchell, assistant city administrator.

“All of the other questions about the future of that building won’t be answered until we’ve had a significant public process,” Mitchell said. “We’re not there yet. We moved quickly to this point to get the property. But now, we won’t do anything without going before the public.”

Mitchell said the city expects to close with owner Richard Laliberte of Leeds late in May.

The city agrees to pay $315,000 for the building, which includes the adult bookstore, the former home to the Hurricane Club and 29 apartments. The building was burned in a fire at the Hurricane Club in October. The club and 14 of the apartments were damaged in the fire.

Jim Andrews, city economic and community development director, said city will make money available in case any of the tenants decide to move, once the sale is complete. That includes up to $10,000 to help Naomi Bruce relocate the bookstore.

City Councilor Normand Rousseau said he wanted to make sure the city didn’t bring in any new tenants, however.

“We don’t know what the conditions are in that building,” he said. “There could be mold. There could be lead. We don’t want to bring any more people in and make ourselves liable.”

Councilors agreed, saying the existing tenants were welcome to stay. The city would not look for new tenants, and any that leave will not be replaced.

Rob Regan, Bruce’s fianc, gave the city high marks for its handling of the sale. He and Bruce met with the city and discussed where they might relocate the store if that’s what Bruce decided to do.

“The tenants of the building are not here tonight, because they really don’t understand what’s going on,” Regan said. “It’s good to see that the city is looking out for these people, even if they are not here.”

Councilors also agreed to turn four small lots at Lisbon and Cedar streets into one big lot. The city already owns the lot at the corner, 369 Lisbon St. That will be combined with three abutting lots to form one nearly 10,000-square-foot lot.

“There is a real benefit to the city to have this assembled into one lot,” Mitchell said. “It’s already a significant piece of property because of where it is. But combining it into one tract makes it more valuable. It makes it a large enough lot to develop.”

Mitchell said the city has already been approached by developers asking about the land.