Whether the last wall of the Daisy Air Rifle Factory will remain standing through the next year is still unclear.

What is clear, however, is that the Plymouth Planning Commission is not happy with the plan development company Joseph Freed & Associates is proposing for the site, which includes tearing down the wall and putting a memorial park in its place.

"I don't think putting in a park and a historical marker has the same impact as having a historical marker in front of the actual building it is describing," said planning commissioner Joseph Phillips. "They (Joseph Freed & Associates) should have to stay with what they originally agreed to do, and that was to preserve part of the building and incorporate it into a new one."

The Daisy Wall saga began in 2003, when Joseph Freed came to the planning commission to get permission to develop the land around the old Daisy factory into condominiums, which are now called the Daisy Square Condominiums.

The original plan included saving at least three of the four factory walls and incorporating them into a new structure which would hold four condominium units.

Because of the real estate market crash in 2007, a large portion of the planned number of condos were never built, including the four-unit Daisy building. Over time, Joseph Freed demolished the walls of the old factory until just one wall stood.

The company is now arguing that it would be bad for business to go forward with the four-unit building because there is so little demand, and that trying to preserve the wall would be too expensive.

The phrase "too expensive" was a sticking point for several commission members.

"Back in 2008, we asked Joseph Freed what it would cost to preserve the wall and incorporate it into the new building," commissioner Jim Mulhern said. "I don't think we ever did get an answer on that."

Commission Chairman Conrad Schewe agreed and asked the company to include an estimate of the cost in the next plan they will present to the commission in December.

"You need to get us some numbers to help us understand the economics of it," Schewe said.

At the end of the meeting, Schewe and Christopher Harden voted to approve Joseph Freed's plan, while Commissioners Phillips, Mulhern, Jennifer Frey, John King, Keith MacDonald and Meg Dooley voted against it. Commissioner Tara Parks was not present at the meeting.

The dozen or so city residents who spoke up at the public forum about the wall earlier in the meeting were also divided about whether it should be torn down or preserved.

Almost all the residents of the Daisy Square Condominiums and homeowners living near the wall who spoke said they wanted the wall torn down.

"That wall is a drag to the area," said Eric Nemeth, who owns a house on South Union Street, across from the condominium development. "It has become a monstrosty. I strongly support putting in the park.

"If the idea is to memorialize the history of the Daisy company in Plymouth, that wall is not doing it," he said.

Beth Foley, president of the townhouse association within the Daisy Square development, also said she would rather see a park than the wall.

"The one concern I have with it is that once the developers leave, maintence will be up to us, and we can't afford that," she said. She hopes the developers will think of another solution for maintence if they put in a park.

Plymouth resident Sandy Canzoneri was the first member of the public to speak in support of preserving the wall. She lives on Ann Street, on the north side of town.

"If we allow this wall to be torn down, we will be one step closer to being Anywhere, U.S.A.," she said. "If they (the developers) had cared at all about preserving the building, it would have been done initially."

She said she wishes they would at least strengthen the wall and make it into an atrium, if they don't want to build an entire building.

Wendy Harless, who lives in Plymouth Township and is chair of the Plymouth Preservation Network, referred to an old stone wall in Veteran's Memorial Park that had been saved by the city commission a few years ago and incorporated into the park.

"There had been arguments about whether that was worth saving, but thanks to the commission taking a chance, we now have a beautiful stone wall in that park," she said. "Let's put our heads together and try to come up with a creative solution."

The planning commission will meet next on Dec. 8, where it will consider a new plan from Joseph Freed & Associates, incorporating the concerns of both the commissioners and residents.