Demolishing Milan’s Past
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Only a beam is holding up several downtown buildings. A total of 10 are scheduled to be demolished within the next few weeks. “No one is going to spend enough money to bring these buildings back to code no one is going to do it,” said Mayor Chris Crider. No one but the city of Milan. It is investing $300,000 of federal grant money to buy the buildings and then using city funds to demolish them. “My grandfather, Oteen Elliot started his first building right here 40 years ago and it’s a tough decision even for me,” said Mayor Crider. Oteen Elliot eventually moved his music business to a larger downtown store, built in the early 1900’s.”I remember whenever you had to dodge each other coming up and down the street greeting each other .” Elliot said time changes everything and his grandson is making the right decision but, “You hate to see old memories fade away.” “The cab building was fine but the old pool room had been closed for years and Mike’s Furniture store was there,” said Clifford Scott, the owner of Clifford’s Bar and Grill, downtown. Scott is thankful for the change and said to him the dirt looks better than the unsightly buildings that once stood next to his business. Last week he watched the first three buildings of the project come down and is thankful for the mayor’s vision. “Very happy he’s doing his best everything he can to help Milan.”
