Just one more time, they said.The City...

VENTURA —  Just one more time, they said.

The City Council voted Monday night to extend for a third time an exclusive negotiating agreement with Oxnard developer KL Associates, which is interested in renovating the Peirano grocery.

Council members and city staff said they hope that this--a final two-month extension through May 13--should help them get all the information necessary to either move forward or move in a new direction.

“I was one of the main supporters of the exclusive negotiating contract and I have been patient,” said Councilman Jim Friedman. “But as far as I’m concerned, this is absolutely the last extension I am willing to grant.”

The city bought the crumbling downtown landmark in 1987 for $150,000 and set aside $500,000 to renovate the 119-year-old building, but has yet to begin any restoration.

As time passes, the cost of restoration goes up and the project grows more difficult. The deteriorating brick structure housed three generations of Peiranos, who operated an old-style general store on the first floor until the 1980s.

But it has been boarded up for a decade while the city debated whether to raze or restore it.

Council members have said in the past that they hope the restored site will be a major attraction downtown. Jim Ludwig of KL Associates told the council this fall that he envisioned a new Peiranos reincarnated in the spirit of the old--as an Italian deli with an outdoor cafe by the fountain.