Jackson Fights Blight, Demolishes Home
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JACKSON, Tenn.–The city of Jackson fights blight. Construction crews will tear down old abandoned homes in an effort to improve neighborhoods. Workers demolished a house on Holland Avenue on Wednesday morning. “The windows was boarded up,” Carrie Taylor said, a neighbor. “The doors was boarded up.” Taylor called the property an “eyesore.” She recently purchased a house several doors down. “I’m happy they’re tearing it down because we have small kids in the area and I just don’t want nothing to happen to them,” Taylor said. The city says the legal process allowing the demolition began when someone first complained about the house in June of last year after the owner left and filed for bankruptcy. “Foundation was gone, walls was coming in,” said Weldon Phelps, house code inspector. Over the next three weeks the city plans to demolish another six houses here in Jackson. “An abandoned house in a neighborhood affects the property values of everybody living there,” Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said. City leaders believe getting rid of the properties will increase the safety of the neighborhoods. “It’s a haven for drug deals,” Gist said. “It’s a haven for the homeless.” Taylor hopes the improvements continue. “Oh…It’d be nice if somebody would buy it and put a new house there,” Taylor said. “It would help bring up our neighborhood.” Crews already demolished eight other properties over the past couple of months. Workers will tear down another property on Peabody Avenue on Thursday morning. The city must go through the court system before tearing down properties.
