For five years, the muddy, litter-strewn vacant lot among the shops of Main Street has detracted from the otherwise picturesque view of Annapolis' downtown.

Filled with debris - piles of bricks, crumpled concrete and steel - and lined with a stockade fence, the lot where two buildings burned in December 1997 is viewed as such a blight that it's called "the hole."

But this week, the owner is taking the first steps toward cleaning up the site at 184-186 Main St. Under pressure from city officials, Ronald B. Hollander is expected to rid the lot of junk and litter, fill the hole with top soil, scatter grass and wildflower seeds, and replace the fence - which is pumpkin orange on the State House side - in time for Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s inauguration as governor next month.

"It's about time," said Betty Cole, an employee of Christmas Spirit next door. "Tourists always remark what a mess it is."

City officials ordered Hollander to clean up the property, threatening to place a lien on it if the work was not done by the end of the month.

"Since there is no buyer and no plan, I don't think the city can afford an ugly, unsafe site," Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said.

The saga of the "hole" is one of modern legend in the state capital.

Just after Dean L. Johnson took office as mayor in 1997, a fire ripped through India Palace, American Spoon Foods and lobbyists' offices, destroying both buildings on the site. But the blaze spared the facade of the 99-year-old building, which once housed the city's first Jewish-owned department store.

Soon the preservation battle began. Even though Hollander pushed for permission to demolish the facade, the city spent $30,000 to secure the remains.

Eight months later, a summer storm further eroded the stability of the facade, and some of the bricks began to fall. The city ordered it razed.

Outraged by the delay in demolition, Hollander reportedly vowed not to rebuild until Johnson left office. Yesterday Hollander recalled the dispute over the facade as "absolutely ridiculous."

"They paint me as a bad guy when they prevented me for the first year from doing anything," Hollander said.

When Moyer took the city's helm last December, rebuilding the site ranked as a priority.

Hollander, one of the city's largest property owners, had put the one-tenth-of-an-acre property up for sale for $1.85 million in March last year. He brought in development plans last December, but Moyer said they were too large for the site.

Since then, Moyer and city staffers have met regularly with Hollander and a few interested buyers to discuss what can be built on the site, but no agreement has been struck.

And though the mayor introduced legislation to lift some building restrictions, the city code limits any new building's height to 28 feet at the lower roof line along Main Street and 22 feet along State Circle, said a letter last month from Moyer to Hollander. It also can't exceed 20,000 square feet because it has no off-street parking.

But Hollander said the city has held up development. He is asking for a letter from planning director Jon Arason - not the mayor - that says what he can build so he can show it to potential developers.

"I've had two or three developers interested in the site, but they want to know what they can build," Hollander said. Though the mayor, whom Hollander calls "most cooperative," has outlined the restrictions in writing, Hollander said he wants more specifics that the city can't "weasel out of."

But others have questioned whether Hollander really wants to sell the site. When he put it up for sale last year, local developers said the asking price was too high. Jack Steffey of Champion Realty's Main Street office said he stopped working as the property's listing agent several months ago because Hollander remained unresponsive to what Steffey said were several good offers.

Hollander is now asking for more. Saying the market has improved and that he has evaluated recent sales prices downtown, he is seeking $2 million.

In the meantime, he said it is "no problem at all" cleaning up the site - something many downtown residents are eager to see.

"Anything is an improvement," downtown resident Elisa Persinger said while shopping next door at Christmas Spirit. "It's just such a beautiful city."