Roddy Piper to invest in historic property’s redevelopment

The former Regional Treatment Center is being some attention and was recently visited by wrestler, actor and historic building investor Rowdy Roddy Piper who came to Fergus Falls on Tuesday with developer Ray Willey and wants to propose some revisions for the redevelopment project at the City Council meeting.

Looking at a brief history of Piper, we know that as a wrestler he has held 38 titles and was one of the most well-known heels of Hulk Hogan. He was also featured in the No. 1 box office hit “They Live” and published a best-selling autobiography in 2003. The passion for wrestling hasn’t died down but his main aim in life is to focus on the preservation of historical buildings and places. Piper raised a question “How are we to know where we come from if we don’t preserve our history?” And added that “Especially something like this. That’s why Ray gave me a call, and I decided to fly down and take a look for myself last night.”

Roddy Piper has known developer Willey since a very long time and the two have been good friends for over more than a decade. They have worked together on numerous occasions for different investment projects of this nature. Piper is going to be an important part of this redevelopment project and will own the proposed sports bar and according to Willey, other athletes will join in too most likely. “It’s the kind of thing in the summertime where this could be huge for business and for the city,” Piper said. Piper and Willey also had a word with Mayor Hal Leland on Tuesday in front of the Kirkbride building where the mayor said “We know Fergus Falls has a bright future when we have people like this invest in the community. We have to be as supportive as we can. It’s a new era we can all look forward to.”

Redevelopment projects such as these do require a lot of support from the community Piper is going to be the perfect opportunity for the firm to cross promote according to Willey who said that “We have had wide, broad-based support from the community. We just couldn’t make things work if there was not that kind of support.” This $41.4 million Regional Treatment Center redevelopment project is going to follow the centuries old concept of ‘Divide and Conquer’ and there are multiple pillars playing the supporting role. Willey presented a modified plan at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting that includes splitting the massive project into two phases.

source: perhamfocus