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Macomb to demolish more rundown houses

The house at 421 E. Jefferson St. is one of the buildings on the demolition list.
Rich Egger
/
TSPR
The house at 421 E. Jefferson St. is one of the buildings on the demolition list.

The demolition of more dilapidated houses around Macomb should begin by the end of June.

The city council agreed to hire Macomb-based Stoneking and Sons Demolition and Excavating to demolish up to 23 houses. The company submitted the low bid of $153,000. Three other businesses also submitted bids.

Second ward city council member John Vigezzi said it will be nice to see dilapidated houses torn down.

“In my ward specifically, I’ve had many comments from different people saying, ‘What’s happening with these houses? They just look terrible.’ So, I appreciate the fact that we’ve been going forward and taking these down,” Vigezzi said.

The work should be completed by the end of September.

Community Development Director Miranda Lambert told the city council that this is the second round of demolition projects being paid for with a $487,000 grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Strong Communities Program. The first round was done last year.

No city money will be spent on the work.

The houses targeted for demolition this year include:

  • 309 W. Adams
  • 323 W. Adams
  • 730 W. Calhoun
  • 1125 W. Calhoun
  • 606 W. Carroll
  • 526 W. Chandler
  • 451 S. Dudley
  • 115 Holden
  • 421 E. Jefferson
  • 621 N. Madison
  • 509 W. Murray
  • 407 W. Orchard
  • 718 N. Pearl
  • 800 N. Pearl
  • 624 E. Pierce
  • 815 W. Piper
  • 224 N. Sherman
  • 417 W. Wheeler
  • 1014 E. Wheeler
  • 221 S. White
  • 920 N. Whiteroe

After demolition, the property owner continues to own the site and is responsible for maintaining it.

Lambert said two other houses were scheduled for demolition, but the owners have agreed to remediate issues with their properties.

She said two or three other houses might also fall off the list.

Tri States Public Radio produced this story.  TSPR relies on financial support from readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.

Rich is TSPR's News Director.