I agree that it is a shame to tear down some boarded houses. The Housing Committee of the Whittier Alliance saved several houses from being torn down and rehabbed them with NRP and other subsidy funding sources. What I learned from my experience with the Committee was how priceless some of the interior and exterior materials in these houses have become. The quality and type of woodwork, fixtures, and other amenities could never be duplicated today. Heck---some types of wood no longer exist on this earth!
I know what it is like to have a boarded building on a block. However, sometimes patience is necessary to see a good end result. For instance, there is a large Victorian style home on 3rd Av S near Franklin. It sat empty and boarded for at least 10 years before it was finally purchased, rehabbed, and sold for home ownership. The only reason it was not demolished was because it is located in the Washburn Fair Oaks Historic District. The upturn in the housing market finally made it finacially feasible to do the rehab (however, some neighborhood subsidy funding was needed). The MCDA will not do anything with these houses---they don't have money to subsidize the rehab (if now necessary). Contact your neighborhood association and ask if they have a housing committee. Then contact the chair and/or attend a meeting and ask if they have access to rehab funds or have contacts with developers willing to do such projects. The MCDA is very strict and "fussy" about who does the rehab. They want to see a developer with a successful track record and the funding to accomplish the task. I know the MCDA and neighborhoods have been burned in the past by good intentioned individuals who purchase a property but fail to carry through on the rehab (usually financial reasons). Rehab can be done given enough resources committed to seeing the project through. Good luck. Terry Erickson Whittier _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
