10 SUN leaders honored the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. by braving single digit temperatures and the 8:00 A.M. start time to testify at a hearing of the city’s Landmark Preservation Board on January 15th, King’s birthday. At issue, SUN’s demand that the owner demolish 133 South Ave., an abandoned house that has been vacant since 1992. The house is an eyesore and a magnet for loitering, trash dumping and drug use.
The Preservation Board allowed Sabrina Rautio, co-chair of SUN’s Southwest Action Council to make a statement about the effect that the house has had on the neighborhood, but threatened to kick SUN Executive Director Rich Puchalski out of the hearing when he tried to make a statement about the need to demolish the building, an action ordered in 2006 by State Supreme Court. (check out the video!)
No decision was made on the status of the house. If the property is declared historic, SUN will follow the process up the ladder–next stop, the city’s Planning Commission.
[...] went to the Board to protest how the city deals with vacant historic houses in our neighborhood and to request the demolition of [...]
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