Monday, September 12, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
Residents living near the house at 1029 Norwood Ave. in the Brier Hill neighborhood first complained about the vacant structure to city officials nearly four years ago.
At that time, the house, with an unusual paint job, had high grass and weeds. There was little the city could do because the former occupant, for some reason, had placed metal stakes in the yard making it very difficult to mow, residents say.
Then came wild dogs, followed by break-ins to steal copper piping, neighbors say.
The vacant house on the city’s North Side off of Wirt Street and between Margaret and Raymond streets, has been a haven for rats and other vermin, neighbors say.
Its exterior paint is badly chipped, windows are broken, the gutters and downspouts hang off the structure, and those who’ve been inside the boarded-up house say the floor is caving in.
Also, a large portion of the roof is collapsed.
“A good, strong wind, and that house will come down,” said Patricia Coney, who lives three door away from 1029 Norwood in her childhood home. “It used to be a good neighborhood. The neighborhood started changing about 15 years ago and continued to get worse. Sometimes it’s a little depressing, but we continue to fight.”
“Yes, it used to be a nice place to live,” said Josephine Thomas, who’s lived next door to 1029 Norwood since 1955. “With people stealing copper piping and all kinds of rats in there, I’m scared being next door. You don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know who’s going in and out of there.”
The Mahoning County auditor’s website lists William and Sally McCrae as the owners of the house. But neighbors say the couple died years ago, and their daughter lived there. The house’s condition deteriorated, and about four years ago, she just abandoned the house, they say.
“The situation just kept getting worse,” Coney said.
After making dozens of calls for nearly four years to city officials about 1029 Norwood’s condition, neighbors are finally seeing action.
Coney called the office of new Mayor Charles Sammarone twice in recent weeks. Sammarone had Sean McKinney, the city’s buildings and grounds commissioner, speak to Coney.
That resulted in the city’s having the house tested for asbestos and the removal of those harmful materials a couple of weeks ago, McKinney said.
And the house is to be demolished Friday, he said.
Neighbors say they’re thrilled by the news.
“It’s long overdue, but I’m glad it’s coming down,” Thomas said.
Thomas and Coney credited Sammarone, who became mayor Aug. 1 after Jay Williams resigned to join the Obama administration, with taking care of the house.
Though Sammarone appreciates the sentiment, he said “there’s no reason to have a problem like this” for such a long period of time.
“Our code enforcement is no good,” he said. “We’re going to be making changes. We should be proactive instead of reactive. We should know about these problems before someone calls.”
Even after the house is demolished, there are other abandoned homes on this small stretch of Norwood Avenue. Two houses almost directly across the street from 1029 Norwood, as well as one nearby on the corner of Margaret, are vacant and boarded up.
“The one coming down is in terrible, terrible condition, but those three houses are in bad shape,” said Valeria Goncalves, president of the neighborhood’s Love Your Neighbor Block Watch, who lives three blocks from Norwood on Funston Street. “I hope the mayor’s office looks at those houses on the street as well as others in Brier Hill. We’re going to stay here. We won’t move.”