The Fresno City Council on Thursday, August 18, is expected to debate a decade-old question: What is to become of downtown's partially finished Old Armenian Town?

The concern is that the once-grand dream of a modern office complex and cultural center in the heart of Fresno's original Armenian neighborhood could turn into another multi-million-dollar disappointment for taxpayers.

Old Armenian Town "is still on a burner," Council Member Larry Westerlund said. "But I can't say it's the front burner. This certainly isn't the best economy for the project to happen."

The council, sitting as the Redevelopment Agency board, is slated to discuss a small part of the project – whether to award a contract for about $24,000 to demolish two empty RDA-owned buildings on the northwest corner of N and Santa Clara streets, in the middle of the 10-acre project site.

On June 30, the council tackled another Old Armenian Town issue when it decided to try again to find a contractor to move five century-old houses the RDA owns at the site and restore them. The houses are to be hauled less than a block to their permanent home on the southeast corner of Santa Clara and M Street, Fresno Bee reported.