Both the Star Tribune and this blog have written a story about the messed up garage at 2901 Dupont Ave. North.
Today blogger Jeff Skrenes (The Hawthorne Hawkman) sent me the photo above of debris being hauled away.
The eyesore garage is gone at last.
Progress.
The Hillside Chronicles blog is also reporting the razing of 1551 Hillside Ave. N., which had been an empty eyesore for a long time. And with the Backhoe of Doomed parked near the old Fire 'N' Ice location on West Broadway, and Butter Roll Bakery being renovated, it appears revitalization progress is busting out all over.
If the "Progress" was to "Revitalize" 1551 Hillside and elsewhere it would still be standing and the cost of demolition would have been used to bring it back to life. Right now all you have is another empty lot. That isn't "Progress".
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly an argument to be made that demolition, in this instance, was not progress and that renovating the property would have been better.
ReplyDeleteThat's some BS about the garage and the 16K owed by the homeowner to the City, a sum she ignored habitually then had rolled into taxes that also remain unpaid. What to do in that situation? Is there a legitimate financial hardship impacting the property owner, or is she just nonfunctional from substance abuse (seriously)? Should the City prohibit non-life threatening services like issuing driver's licenses, tabs, etc. for a property owner in such arrears?
ReplyDeleteExcept organizations and redevelopers were offered the property on many occasions, some of them offered the property for FREE, and ALL of them either declined or said the price of renovating would be exhorbitant because the house was too far gone.
ReplyDeleteAnd the lot will not remain empty for long, the new owners have said construction of a new, single family home would commence on the lot in a matter of weeks.
You may not like it, but to say that this house was torn down with NO effort to save it is wrong. The current owners initially wanted to save it, and could not find enough there to save.
If anyone had a viable alternative, they literally have had years to do so.
I think its a shame to demolish these homes. We could reclaim these homes for the homeless, or as places to hold our Occupy Minnesota meetings. Here is a home we just reclaimed and moved into. We would like to reclaim a vacant home on North Side. Could you please visit our Facebook page and suggest vacant properties that would be good for us to break into and move families into? Our Occupy Homes Facebook page is the place to start with us.
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