Vacant Lots in 1985

[sheclown]

According to the "Springfield Action Plan" dated May 1997, 60 building had been demolished or lost to fire as of May 1997 since the 1985 study was complete. (page 40).  

60 buildings were lost in that 12 year period.  Any idea how many have been lost since 1997?  I believe over 20 were lost in the last two years, alone.

It also states as a suggestion

Establish a streamlined procedure to forgive the amount of code enforcement liens which exceed the value of the property.  Now the amount of these liens make the repair and/or rebuilding all vacant lots almost impossible.

(page 42)

[Springfielder]

It looks like, in 1985,  there were 12 houses (including commercial)  on the stretch of East 6th between Liberty and Walnut.  

Next time you head to 3 layers, count how many historic structures are there now.

There's 5 houses on the one side and 4 on the same side as the coffee house (not sure if the one at 6th & Liberty is listed as 6th or Liberty...the lot is where 3-4 burned and what was left of them were taken down.

Adding link to photos of fire: http://www.jfrd.com/images/2nd%20Alarm%206th%20and%20Walnut%20061104/index.html

[sheclown]

Bumping this thread   See what we've lost.

[thelakelander]

Does anyone have a map of historically significant properties that existed in Springfield in 1985? I'd like to create an updated 2013 version.

[sheclown]

Vacant Lots are hatched

Abandoned dwellings are checked.

This is all I have seen

[JaxUnicorn]

I'm having trouble understanding the comment on the photo.  Vacant hatched, abandoned checked?  And how can I get a downloadable copy of this?

[sheclown]

Don't know about downloadable.

The checks are vacant lots and the hatched boxes are abandoned houses

For me it is easier to view on my phone b/c I can expand it

[thelakelander]

I'd like to see a map showing non-contributing vs contributing buildings from era when Springfield first became a historic district.  There should be a print version in the city's Historic Preservation Office.  I'll add it to my list of things to do before July 4th.

[strider]

I don't have the info for all of Springfield, but here is Ionia Street as of 2012.

Ionia Street ... 1985 ... 2012

Number of residential lots inside the historic district ... 80 ... 80
Number of abandoned houses ... 0 ... Est. 6
Number of vacant lots ... 8 ... 34

Percentage of houses lost prior to 1985:  10%

Percentage of houses lost since 1985:  37%

Percentage lost overall:  43%  of the original housing stock is gone.

If we assume that Ionia was 100% built out by 1920, it lost 10% of it's houses in the first 65 years, including about ten years of the worst history of Springfield for having crime, drugs and flop houses of all sorts and then it took only the next 27 years, about 10 of which were the most prosperous in Springfield in many decades, to lose an additional 34% of it's housing stock.That is 26 historic houses gone in 27 years or about 1 a year for the one single street!  We lost fewer houses prior to being a protected historic district than we have with those protections in place. While some were of course due to things like fire, how many were due to social reasons rather than the house itself? How many have we lost unnecessarily due to "demolition by reckless policy?"

[Ocklawaha]

Guess its a good thing that we have a Historic Preservation Office within our city! Bravo boys! Bravo!

[JaxByDefault]

I'd like to see a map showing non-contributing vs contributing buildings from era when Springfield first became a historic district.  There should be a print version in the city's Historic Preservation Office.  I'll add it to my list of things to do before July 4th.

That would be great, but even it wouldn't tell the whole story. My house is listed with the city as 1941 (when it was converted to apartment use) but has a deed (and photo) record to 1905. Thus, there are several historic properties in SPR that would probably not have been included in the "contributing structure" list -- and I'm going to guess that their fate has probably been worse than those designated as contributing. My guess is commercial historic stock has fared especially poorly as well.


Sheclown: That map is missing an abandoned house on the 1100 block of Walnut. 1138 is REO owned, vacant, and has been found with doors wide-open several times. Magic fairies occasionally secure the property as they can fly and do not trespass *on* the bank's property.