Durkeeville 100 year old house in danger of demolition

[MEGATRON]

We have two folks who have pledged the materials and labor to make it happen (mothballing at $2500.) 
One step at a time.
Landmark.
Mothball.
Restore/Renovate.

one step at a time wil not win folks over. You need a plan.

[civil42806]

This is a powerful picture on SO many levels.  I can just shake my head in sadness.

You know you read this stuff.  Will be the bad guy.   If they were that concerned about grandmas house, why didn't they do anything before it was condemned, or did they?  The pictures looks like the house is a disaster.  The unique hand carved areas are interesting.

[sheclown]

This is a powerful picture on SO many levels.  I can just shake my head in sadness.

You know you read this stuff.  Will be the bad guy.   If they were that concerned about grandmas house, why didn't they do anything before it was condemned, or did they?  The pictures looks like the house is a disaster.  The unique hand carved areas are interesting.

Illness. Poverty.

Bottom line is that house is important to all the citizens of Jacksonville.

[MEGATRON]

This is a powerful picture on SO many levels.  I can just shake my head in sadness.

You know you read this stuff.  Will be the bad guy.   If they were that concerned about grandmas house, why didn't they do anything before it was condemned, or did they?  The pictures looks like the house is a disaster.  The unique hand carved areas are interesting.

Illness. Poverty.

Bottom line is that house is important to all the citizens of Jacksonville.

actually it's not

[sheclown]

This is a powerful picture on SO many levels.  I can just shake my head in sadness.

You know you read this stuff.  Will be the bad guy.   If they were that concerned about grandmas house, why didn't they do anything before it was condemned, or did they?  The pictures looks like the house is a disaster.  The unique hand carved areas are interesting.

Illness. Poverty.

Bottom line is that house is important to all the citizens of Jacksonville.

actually it's not

That house is who we are here in Jacksonville -- who we once were. 

That will always be important.

[iloveionia]

We have two folks who have pledged the materials and labor to make it happen (mothballing at $2500.) 
One step at a time.
Landmark.
Mothball.
Restore/Renovate.

one step at a time wil not win folks over. You need a plan.

Not sure what was missed about the plan?  Detail I suppose?  Landmarking the property is coming up at the next HPC meeting.  When that is approved, then the mothball COA at the next meeting.  When that is approved, then mothball it!  Then move towards getting the home habitable in the 3 year certificate.  Once it is landmarked I understand it can't be demoed (but who knows about loopholes in Code.)

As for winning folks over?  I suppose I come from a different frame of mind than some, I hope not too many though.  I'm not religious or anything, but believe firmly that we have a duty to help other people.  Some of us are in better places than others for a myriad of reasons (that could be another thread) and have the ability to guide and help others that can not help themselves.  Not everyone is educated.  Not everyone is privileged.  Not everyone has the right color skin.  Not everyone thinks the same. Not everyone walks the path of righteousness (okay, that sounded way too religious, ack.) But my point is one person or a few persons in this instance make it their life mission to hurt others and focus on being a problem rather than a solution.  I believe we are supposed to help each other, not bring one another down.  It feels much better making people feel good than making them feel like shit.  Well, to me anyway.  So, yeah, I get it, in a perfect world the sisters should have kept their home in non-condemned condition from the get-go.  I'm with ya.  But they didn't.  I'm not going to make excuses, but after hearing them speak at the Council meeting, one of them was near death ill.  Sometimes the circumstances of life change everything.  That is why we get to know people and help.  Additionally, there is this really great old and unique house that needs preserving.  Why Jax is so hip and demolishing is beyond my scope of understanding.  It benefits no one.  History itself should convince everyone.  When they are gone, they are gone.  After all my unorganized blabbering, suffice it to say: Save the Houses.  "Love one another or die." WH Auden.

[MEGATRON]

This is a powerful picture on SO many levels.  I can just shake my head in sadness.

You know you read this stuff.  Will be the bad guy.   If they were that concerned about grandmas house, why didn't they do anything before it was condemned, or did they?  The pictures looks like the house is a disaster.  The unique hand carved areas are interesting.

Illness. Poverty.

Bottom line is that house is important to all the citizens of Jacksonville.

actually it's not

That house is who we are here in Jacksonville -- who we once were. 

That will always be important.

if that house is who you are, that's sad.

[MEGATRON]

We have two folks who have pledged the materials and labor to make it happen (mothballing at $2500.) 
One step at a time.
Landmark.
Mothball.
Restore/Renovate.

one step at a time wil not win folks over. You need a plan.

Not sure what was missed about the plan?  Detail I suppose?  Landmarking the property is coming up at the next HPC meeting.  When that is approved, then the mothball COA at the next meeting.  When that is approved, then mothball it!  Then move towards getting the home habitable in the 3 year certificate.  Once it is landmarked I understand it can't be demoed (but who knows about loopholes in Code.)

As for winning folks over?  I suppose I come from a different frame of mind than some, I hope not too many though.  I'm not religious or anything, but believe firmly that we have a duty to help other people.  Some of us are in better places than others for a myriad of reasons (that could be another thread) and have the ability to guide and help others that can not help themselves.  Not everyone is educated.  Not everyone is privileged.  Not everyone has the right color skin.  Not everyone thinks the same. Not everyone walks the path of righteousness (okay, that sounded way too religious, ack.) But my point is one person or a few persons in this instance make it their life mission to hurt others and focus on being a problem rather than a solution.  I believe we are supposed to help each other, not bring one another down.  It feels much better making people feel good than making them feel like shit.  Well, to me anyway.  So, yeah, I get it, in a perfect world the sisters should have kept their home in non-condemned condition from the get-go.  I'm with ya.  But they didn't.  I'm not going to make excuses, but after hearing them speak at the Council meeting, one of them was near death ill.  Sometimes the circumstances of life change everything.  That is why we get to know people and help.  Additionally, there is this really great old and unique house that needs preserving.  Why Jax is so hip and demolishing is beyond my scope of understanding.  It benefits no one.  History itself should convince everyone.  When they are gone, they are gone.  After all my unorganized blabbering, suffice it to say: Save the Houses.  "Love one another or die." WH Auden.

who will own the house while its mothballed?  Who will pay to renovate it?  How does that house move to a new owner?  That's what I mean by plan, rather than simply mothball and hope for the best. That's no plan.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and desire to help. But I certainly don't want to see my tax money go to paying for the preservation of this house. It's simply not high on the list of priorities and I probably speak for many people in this city. That's why a solid plan is absolutely necessary.

[thelakelander]

But I certainly don't want to see my tax money go to paying for the preservation of this house. It's simply not high on the list of priorities and I probably speak for many people in this city.

So it's on the top of your priority list to see your money spent to demolish buildings that are structurally sound? 

[iloveionia]

Your tax money actually goes to demolish houses.  The city pays for the demo, places a lien on the property (well, vacant lot) and it sits uncared for and unloved for a long time.  Often those liens aren't paid and the city eats the money (well, we do.)  It's the saga of Springfield.  Mothballing is paid for by the owner, or in this case sponsored by donors.  The revival of the home will also be paid for by the owners.  Or done DIY style where possible.

You won't like it, but a monitored and mothballed home can sit for a very long time protected as such. City of Jax mothballing gives 3 years plus potentially an additional 1-3 thereafter. 

In life I have learned (I am in education) that not everyone has the opportunities that others do.  Everyone has a story.  And for some, the deck maybe stacked against them.  Yes, the house is sad.  Yes, the life that some people embrace is also sad.  But maybe not to them, you know?  Just to us outsiders.  What we think and what we feel about something/someone, may be far from the truth. 

Jacksonville should embrace history, preservation, and progressiveness.  Many cities do and thrive because of it.

And FWIW.  I have a mothballed 1500 sq. ft. home in Springfield that needs to come to life on the interior.  I didn't have to produce paystubs or bank account information to show that I could rehab the home.  I am given the time to produce those funds over 3 years to make it happen, and no one asks to see those funds and to be quite frank, it is not anyone's business whether I have them or don't.  My point:  we simply don't know about people.  Things just need to take their course and bridges crossed when we get to them.

I feel strongly that we need to help, not hurt people.  That those of us "better off" have a duty to guide and love others.  Remember?  Love each other or perish. (Auden)

Last sappy thought.  My Ionia bungalow I bought in 2007 makes me smile everyday.  This sad gal sat in dire straits for 12+ years without love until I bought her.  I believe houses are living breathing entities.  Every time I walk into my home I feel this warm swath of love surround me, like the house is hugging me and saying "thank you for loving me."  I walk through my home and wonder about all the lives that lived there.  If walls could talk right?  I wonder what history will say about this time we live in?  What will the books and stories speak? That may be all there is, the stories, because the true to life forms (houses) will be long since gone.  Nothing to go back and look at and learn from. 

Save the houses. 

[sheclown]

One of the beauties of mothballing is that it SAVES taxpayers money.

Not only does the city not have to pay the cost to demolish a building, but it also doesn't have to clog up the landfill with perfectly acceptable (and I would say superior) building materials.

[MEGATRON]

One of the beauties of mothballing is that it SAVES taxpayers money.

Not only does the city not have to pay the cost to demolish a building, but it also doesn't have to clog up the landfill with perfectly acceptable (and I would say superior) building materials.

I am all for mothballing if a plan is in place after the 3-6 year timeframe.  My fear is that, after six years, nothing has happened to push renovation of the house, then the City has to re-insert itself and spend more money on the house.  And, if the City is footing the mothballing bill, these women can no longer own the property. 

What happens after 3-6 years of mothballing?

[Tacachale]

^You do understand that your tax money pays for the demolition, right? Why is that more palatable?

[thelakelander]

MEGATRON, do you approve of using tax dollars to demolish structurally sound buildings? 

What happens after 3-6 years of mothballing?

What happens after demolishing people's property against their will?  How does COJ recoup money used to tear down buildings?

[MEGATRON]

MEGATRON, do you approve of using tax dollars to demolish structurally sound buildings? 

What happens after 3-6 years of mothballing?

What happens after demolishing people's property against their will?  How does COJ recoup money used to tear down buildings?

So, are you going to answer the question or not???  I like all your ideas - I just don't think you have assembled a plan that anyone other than ultra- preservationists can get behind.  Sorry that I have to spell that out for you.

Against their will?  Those ladies have been given 15 years to do something with their house.  if I lived next door to that house, I'd be pissed as hell and so would you.  Its a blight in its current condition.  Look at those pictures.  Forgot about paying for structural fixes.  How about just getting in there and cleaning up some of the trash in that house?  Great sob story by the sisters but they have not put five minutes of sweat equity into that house.

I approve of using tax dollars to tear down a structurally deficient house that has become a blight to its neighbors.  I'd rather the city spend the $3,000 to demolish the house than the millions of dollars a plaintiff's attorney will reap when some vagrant is injured in the house or the house falls onto its neighboring houses and injures an inhabitant. 

Would I rather see the $3,000 go to mothballing?  Absolutely.  But show me what happens when, after 3-6 years, nothing has happened?  Do we spend more money on the house?