Durkeeville 100 year old house in danger of demolition

[Tacachale]

It's exceeding unlikely that that's Hurston's "childhood home" considering she didn't live in Jacksonville as a child. She went to boarding school here at Florida Baptist Academy as a teenager, and later lived here as a young adult. I'm not sure anyone knows all the places she would have lived. Most of them were probably in Sugar Hill and are likely long gone.

[iloveionia]

Sheclown has articles to post.
She stayed here with family.
Has pic of the building demolished today.
She'll start thread.

[thelakelander]

Here's 1477 Evergreen.



The Eastside is a working class historically black neighborhood, who's history has also not been properly covered.  It's a place that historically had New Orleans 9th Ward style density and Florida Avenue (A. Philip Randolph) was just as vibrant and dense as LaVilla's Ashley Street.  I came here in 2003 and over the past decade, just about have of that commercial district has been leveled with nothing but grass, weeds and broken concrete foundations left.  Here's a few shots to give readers an impression of what the Eastside looks like today:










^What good is a town center streetscape project if we keep ripping down the commercial buildings that have historically lined the street?  This corridor's chance at a King Street style grass roots revival reduces with every additional building becoming tailgate parking.

I hope to have another book out by the end of the year that will cover Jacksonville's urban core neighborhoods in a similar fashion to the buildings covered in Reclaiming Jacksonville.  One of my core reasons for doing this is to expose the rich history of places like Durkeeville, Eastside, Moncrief, Brentwood, Panama Park, etc.

[thelakelander]

Speaking of Durkeeville's architectural quality, does anyone know what happened with their efforts to get designated as a historic district?  Here are a few shots of what remains today:



















Out of all of urban Jacksonville's overlooked distressed neighborhoods, this one seems like the easiest to turn around to me.  However, a better future means building upon the assets of what exists. Btw, this is the same neighborhood where COJ approved a suburban cheap Family Dollar at its main intersection.  To make way for this metal box, asphalt parking lot and retention pond, a 100 year old brick commercial building up against the street was demolished.

[Tacachale]

Lake you are definitely right about the Eastside. It has a chance to become Jax's next great urban neighborhood but that gets diminished every time an empty lot emerges right in the middle of the historical business district. It's not as if new construction will happen there any time soon. It's really sad.

[sheclown]

It's exceeding unlikely that that's Hurston's "childhood home" considering she didn't live in Jacksonville as a child. She went to boarding school here at Florida Baptist Academy as a teenager, and later lived here as a young adult. I'm not sure anyone knows all the places she would have lived. Most of them were probably in Sugar Hill and are likely long gone.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,18092.new.html#new

[John P]

The resident that has driven this demolition was at the last city council meeting.  He seemed like a real piece of work, and was smugly asking to demolish this home as a 'present' to him for his upcoming bar be sue.

The two women who own the house have been in ill health and havent been able to fix the property which they have had for decades.

They burst into tears at the council in public trying to understand why this man's desire to have a better 'view' was more important than them having their home.

I was disgusted with the bastard, frankly.  He made very light of their pain, and couldnt have given a flying shit about their lives.

If he wants something done with the property so badly, why not take his bar be que hosting ass over and volunteer to help the two women out?

This isnt the City, as far as I could tell.  It was more of the same evil neighborhood victimization that Springfield used to have to endure at the hands of Louise DeSpain and Eva Ayres.

Sounds like the Springfield plastics story. Poor old person got sick and let their property turn to crap. Now everybody has to put up with it otherwise youre antipoor people and have no heart or prodemolition. Not all homes can realisticsally be saved. Charlestons economics are very different than Jacksonville. Not everyhome SHOULD be saved. Anything can be saved for a price but thats not realistic. The city should sieze properties, at least that would be a long term solution but in the meantime there are hundreds of houses that are rotting and are not economically viable to rehab. At somepoint they are better coming down than keeping up for another 100 years in derelict shape. Is there a matrix that determines if a house is salvagable or not?

[thelakelander]

The only thing different about Charleston's economy from Jacksonville is that they made a decision to stand firm behind historic preservation and that decision has led to a boom in their tourism market. I agree that it's unrealistic to save every single structure but I question if demolition is always the most cost effective answer for taxpayer dollars.

[sheclown]

[sheclown]

[sheclown]

[sheclown]

House looks pretty good underneath with the exception of the back corner pier.  Much better than many in Springfield, actually.

[sheclown]

Mothballing would deal with the "ugly factor" which bothers the neighbor

[iloveionia]

Indeed it would.  Those turned posts on the porch.  Love.  The siding is likely protecting some pretty awesome original siding.  Love.  The destruction MUST end.  We need to speak for the houses.  Period. 

[sheclown]

Get this.  Asbestos siding with aluminum siding over top of that.  Yes, somewhere there is wood siding!!  Probably pretty well protected.