Photo By John HoffA big pile of dirt "fill" appeared recently near 3119 4th St. N., which I've referred to in other posts as "Mold-o-topia" and the OTHER "Apartment Complex of Anarchy." The biggest area of concern is...
The fact 3119 4th St. N. is known to be full of asbestos. In fact, that's what's apparently delaying the demolition. Rumor is it will be demolished October 27. But 415 31st Ave. N. went down a week earlier than we were told, so who knows? NOT THAT WE'RE COMPLAINING, MIND YOU. Heck, we were drinking champagne. Non-alcoholic, of course.
But "Patty Cake" who lives near "3119" is afraid the place will just get wrecked without steps to abate the asbestos...that official "wires may get crossed" or whatever. There isn't really a direct line of communication to residents on this. Generally, Jeff Skrenes calls Jill K. at the city, who is the liaison for the Hawthorne Neighborhood...and we wait to hear back. We wait to hear about the abatement, and see a big pile of "fill" appear, and we figure a bulldozer isn't very far behind.
In the meantime, I heard from Peter that volunteers from Rebuilding Together were once again in the Eco Village. If I get any pictures, I'll post 'em.
Well... I don't share your glee over seeing any older structure go to demo, but I appreciate some of the irony involved in your article.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since the Asbestos is generally safe when left alone. Smashing it into a billion pieces that settle over the neighborhood really doesn't seem to be a great idea.
To add more irony to your post, the structure that replaces this "asbestos ridden building" will certainly be built with OSB (Oriented Strand Board).
So what is OSB? It is wood scraps glued together with bonding chemicals containing high levels of formaldehyde. Ya..Like we used to put our bugs in at science class.
This is because we have used up our forests of old growth lumber to a point where it is no longer economically feasible to build with solid wood.
Whats more..current codes require us to wrap tight water and vapor seals around the outside of these homes as an insulating agent. (This will allow us to put in cheap aluminum and vinyl windows that have practically no R-value).
So, The sturdy old growth lumber will be hauled to the landfill with any other element of style or elegance that these homes once had because it isn't "economically feasible" to repair them and insure that caring owner occupants who can take them over.
Instead we will rebuild a cheaply constructed new home in a depressed urban neighborhood and hope to attract homeowners who will invest in it to make the community a better place.
As a society, we don't condemn the people who's lack of social skills have let this structure go to ruin and created hopelessness in the community; we condemn the house.
The former owner has already profited and will probably make a great investment in the house down the block, because he has driven property values down to a point that makes it "economically feasible" for him to do so.