City's blight program has demolished 15 houses

Richmond's Blight Elimination Program has eliminated at least 15 troubled properties in the city since Oct. 7.

Another 54 are expected to be demolished by mid-December, said Tony Foster, director of Richmond's Department of Metropolitan Development.

Culy Construction and Excavating have been working on several structures on North West E Street, said metropolitan development planning technician Ashley Schultz, who is serving as the contact for property purchases.

One double house at 28 and 30 N.W. E St. has been cleared, and Culy is set to begin demolishing another house at 36 N.W. E St. soon.

The city is receiving more than $3 million in U.S. Treasury Department funds through the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority for the Blight Elimination Program. In all, the city is planning to demolish and find an end use for more than 130 properties.

At Wednesday's board of works meeting, the board opened bids for 17 more properties to be cleared through the Blight Elimination Program. One of the 17 was bid separately because it has an asbestos siding that requires a different demolition process than the other houses, Foster said.

Those 17 properties are required to be demolished by mid-February.

Another 16 have been posted, and bids for their demolition will be opened at a December board of works meeting. The target date for complete clearance of those structures is April 1.

"Once we get started, it's going to be a continual process," Foster said. "They're coming down daily until middle of next summer. It is working very well."

Schultz said the Blight Elimination Program requires plenty of teamwork and communication, and not just with contractors. She said Richmond Power & Light and other utilities have been cooperative in making disconnections, and county government employees have been helping in handling the property transfers.

"It's a huge, citywide effort," she said, "not just our office."