409 31st Ave. N. Meets Backhoe Of Dooooooom!!!!

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Tonight at the Hawthorne Neighborhood Council board meeting, I learned from Housing Director Jeff Skrenes that 409 31st Ave. N. was demolished a couple days ago. This house was caught up in the web of fraud spun by Larry Maxwell and Vicki Cox-Maxwell, something this blog wrote about in detail as early as June of 2008, click here, then subsequently blogged about the trial and its aftermath, click here for sample post.

The house at 409 31st Ave. N. was notable for the pile of soggy teddy bears left on the front steps, because somebody who lived there a short while had been killed, though apparently not right there at the house. Two years ago, the house was a frequent target of crackhead squatters and prostitutes (not to make too much of a distinction between the two groups, who are often one and the same) but, for at least the past year and a half, vigorous grassroots efforts by individuals in the Hawthorne Neighborhood made sure the house stayed securely boarded up and graffiti was painted over...whether these were official or unofficial efforts, the point was what needed to be done got done.

The lot where 409 31st Ave. N. sat is part of the visionary Hawthorne Eco Village project and the demolition of the house, though somewhat sad, represents progress in that direction.