Kim, I can understand your feelings. Some years ago I lived for 2 years at 1919 Columbus Av S in the Phillips Nbhd. This was a fine old house with wonderful woodwork, etc, etc, probably not unlike the house that you described. I was saddened when I drove past the old home a couple of years ago and saw only a vacant lot. Besides feeling that the house should have been an excellant prospect for rehab on rational terms, I also felt like a part of my past, my history, had been violated. However, I do not know the circumstances, and I suppose the house could have burned down, and may not have been the victim of questionable demolition.
The demolition, and then the maybe* construction of a new building, procedure has been done thousands of times (*oftentimes the vacant lot is split off to adjacent properties).The costs and outcomes are predictable and city staff are very familiar with the procedures, and these procedures probably do not take much staff time. Even though I suspect that many building rehabs would end up being cheaper, rehabs surely take up much more staff time and stress. So many questions and decisions. First of all, is the building worthy of rehab. Then a hundred more decisions about whether or not to do this or to replace that. And all decisions are left intact to possibly come back to haunt the city in the future. Jerry Boardman, at a meeting once, related the story about one rehab - a ceiling in a city rehabbed house fell in on the occupants. I do not mean to let the city off the hook by stating this. I strongly feel that we should save as many old building as possible, and we should learn to deal with the extra difficulties of rehab. Dave Stack Harrison > From: Kim Goodman > Subject: City of MPLS & Housing >> I am angry. I am disappointed. And I am not surprised. Yesterday afternoon a backhoe was delivered to tear down a turn of the century home on my block to make way for a flood park. It was not much to look at on the outside, but inside the woodwork was all original varnish, oak and maple. The duplexing had been done with beauty and craftsmanship. The house was structurally and mechanically sound. Inside the floors were maple and in perfect condition. ... >> _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
