BEFORE
AFTERContributed photos, xoxo, blog post by John Hoff
Demolitions sometimes happen in Homewood, too. WHO KNEW?!
Above is a photo from a few months ago, and below is a photo from a few weeks ago of the demo-in-progress of 1254 Russell Ave. N., one of the very few demos in Homewood since the housing crisis.
This crappy little duplex achieved a moment of fame when, during the...
...campaign for Fifth Ward City Council, (Don Samuels versus four political midgets) boards on the windows were painted with the words "How Many Years Don?" as if the years of it being boarded and vacant had anything to do with Don Samuels and not with Natalie Johnson Lee, NRRC, the church which owned the building, etc. (Click here for a close-up photo of the Natalie Johnson Lee sign on the building)
And so another house which stood for as much as a century is wiped off the face of the earth. It's sad. I wish to see more renovation and revitalization and less demolition, even though some buildings undoubtedly need to go.
Here's a little musical serenade to mark the passing of 1254 Russell Ave. N., click here.
Above is a photo from a few months ago, and below is a photo from a few weeks ago of the demo-in-progress of 1254 Russell Ave. N., one of the very few demos in Homewood since the housing crisis.
This crappy little duplex achieved a moment of fame when, during the...
...campaign for Fifth Ward City Council, (Don Samuels versus four political midgets) boards on the windows were painted with the words "How Many Years Don?" as if the years of it being boarded and vacant had anything to do with Don Samuels and not with Natalie Johnson Lee, NRRC, the church which owned the building, etc. (Click here for a close-up photo of the Natalie Johnson Lee sign on the building)
And so another house which stood for as much as a century is wiped off the face of the earth. It's sad. I wish to see more renovation and revitalization and less demolition, even though some buildings undoubtedly need to go.
Here's a little musical serenade to mark the passing of 1254 Russell Ave. N., click here.
5 comments:
And the correct answer is, of course,
FOUR!
FOUR more years (of) Don!
:-)
Another NRRC boondoggle goes down the tubes. NRRC's "development" arm purchased this duplex along with the church next to it at way overvalued price. The church's pastor at that time was (*rimshot*) Rev. Jerry McAfee. Since I've always heard that the church and duplex were bought as part of one deal, I assume that both the church and duplex belonged to New Salem Baptist Church, but I don't know that for sure.
Then NRRC decided to stop paying the utilities on the beautiful, historic church that used to be a synagogue, so that the pipes burst and all the woodwork was destroyed, making it unsellable.
Ever since that time, NRRC has held the neighborhood hostage to the enormous debt incurred by this sweetheart deal / idiotic mismanagement combo. From this point on, every development proposal that was judged by one criterion only: is this the life raft that will help NRRC get itself out of it's financial mess. All other criteria (such as community input) were completely irrelevant. Thus, the committed effort to reduce community input or involvement in NRRC's "neighborhood organization" arm.
The board decided to allow this conflict of interest between NRRC's "development" arm and "neighborhood organization" arm to metastasize.
Most recently, NRRC nearly succeeded in killing UROC with their demands that the University take on NRRC's boondoggle debts.
What you have there is a photo of the Willard-Hay neighborhood's NRP funds being wiped off the face of the earth.
Wow, the stuff people say if you just give them a forum to say it!
Knocking down all these older homes is like tearing out a kitchen cupboard every time you see a roach. They just craw to the next one.
Until the community leaders take steps to clean house and eliminate the profiteer slumlords who continue to buy up depressed homes for this purpose, we will suffer from the crime and anti-social behaviors that scare good residents from investing and rebuilding our community.
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