It was only last evening at Harrah’s that I joined a group of folks for cocktails and conversation where the topic turned to this house featured on page 2 of today’s Delaware County Daily Times. It started out with jokes, then safety concerns, before serious disappointment with city officials was voiced. One guy call this the ‘Dollhouse’ due to its resemblance to the dollhouses little girls like to play with. This Dollhouse is no plaything.
Some of the people in the conversation were directly responsible for the conversion of the former 2nd Street becoming the new 4-lane state highway Rt 291. They remarked on how much effort (and money) went into removing old and dilapidated structures from both sides of the street in an effort to give passersby the best possible image of Chester as they speed through.
It was an unfortunate car accident that created the gaping hole in front of this home almost 2 years ago. Obviously, the home owners aren’t capable of repairing their property. What’s not so obvious is why (and how) the building is still standing.
Prior to Mayor Linder’s administration, demolition was an ongoing activity throughout the city. In fact, this was when Linder was a city councilman and clearing blight was one of his proudest accomplishments. Somehow, all that stopped when he became mayor.
The two most notable demolitions during his term was the Sleeper’s College on Welsh Street and the building in Deshong Park. City officials proudly announced that neither of those demolitions came out of the city budget. The Deshong demolition was professionally done. The Sleeper’s College one went on forever and there’s still a construction fence blocking the hole in the ground left by that shoddy job.
Somehow, the city should have some funds set aside for emergency demolition. I’m sure it takes some legal wrangling to knock down a property owned by someone else, but that’s what lawyers do. One thing is for sure, when that building finally falls on someone or something, the legal costs to the city will be far greater as a result of those law suits than it would be to arrange to knock the building down now.
More importantly, for the sake of the image of Chester, please do whatever you can to remove this eyesore from the city’s most visible thoroughfare. It’s an embarrassment to all of us who live here and a serious credibility issue for the entire democratic party.
Correct me if I’m wrong!
Chester Matters Blog 