What Should Be Done With Kartway?

The review on Yelp from 2010 says it all:

"... I worked there for two summers when I was a teenager (and my oldest sister before me) and it was a really happening place. Frozen custard (aka soft serve), burgers & dogs, etc. The little league players all came here after games for ice cream and the navy guys were always taking turns at the batting cages.  
The owners Kim & Ben have had the place for more years than I can recall but as they have gotten up in their years they have found it too much to handle. I can only hope that someone will swoop in and bring the place back to it's nostagic glory."

Ben Majalian of Gales Ferry has owned the property since 1966, according to records in the Ledyard assessor's office. The 1.76 acres, once home every summer to go-karts, batting cages, french fries, ice cream, children's laughter and great memories, is now a weed-ridden, broken-down lot filled with trash.

Majalian could not be reached for comment for this article. As recently as 2011, the place was still running the go-karts, but the batting cages and food concession had been closed.

Assessed at $225,750 (the land is valued at just over $189,000) it has become an eyesore at the intersection of Route 12 and Christy Hill Road, an important gateway to the Gales Ferry Design District, an area of Route 12 that the town has identified as a place to draw new tax-paying retailers.

With the state's decision last week to pass over Ledyard for a $500,000 Main Street Improvement Fund grant that would have gone toward improvements in the Gales Ferry commercial district, the question is a timely one:

What could (or should) be done with the Kartway property? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.