Lawrence city commissioners on Tuesday unanimously agreed to start the process of condemning a dilapidated house and property at 1106 Rhode Island Street.
But commissioners are not seeking to condemn the property to tear down the house but rather want to gain control of the property so the house can be restored.
Commissioners directed staff members to start drawing up the paperwork to start the condemnation process after the owners — members of the Barland family — had not yet presented a plan on how to bring the property up to city codes.
The house and adjacent barn are part of the North Rhode Island Residential Historic District, and commissioners said they want to avoid tearing down the buildings. The house dates back to 1871, and the property was the site of one of the city’s early dray wagon businesses.
Commissioners were told that the process, which will include a court setting a price the city must pay for the property, would take at least 90 days, and that the city could stop the process if the Barland family comes up with a plan to bring the property up to city code.
If the city does acquire the property, commissioners said they would create a process for people to submit proposals to purchase the property from the city and rehabilitate it.
Comments
Did_I_say_that 3 months, 2 weeks ago
That corner looks like a potential auxiliary parking lot for the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.
by DIST
somebodynew 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Yes it does. BUT try getting that past either the neighborhood association or the historical committee. NOT going to happen. They could not even turn an EMPTY lot into a parking lot a couple of years ago.
Did_I_say_that 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Let us meet here in 18 months and see what actually happens to the property.
I foresee a renovation of the wagon barn, demolition of the house, and a parking lot for visitors to the barn and set-aside spaces for the City.
Cant_have_it_both_ways 3 months, 2 weeks ago
And the East siders wonder why adding new stuff to that part of town is never considered. Kinda like a dog with an old bone, dog does not want the bone, but doesn't want another dog to have it either.
Catalano 3 months, 2 weeks ago
No, it got turned into affordable housing.
consumer1 3 months, 2 weeks ago
That won't happen the granolas don't want a parking lot in east Lawrence. The city will give it or lease it long term to Tenant's to Homeowner's who will spend 1 million dollars to rebuild a house worth $135,000.00. Then sell it to an "underpriveledged" buyer for $56,000.00. IF you don't believe me save this blog and watch.
Katara 3 months, 2 weeks ago
by Katara
Renaissance 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Hysterical society, please. The motto " If it's old, it's clearly worth saving" is the exact reason 1) We can't free the market and re-build portions of this town that need some 'freshening up' and 2) my fridge smells
merrill 3 months, 2 weeks ago
There are some crafts people in this town that most certainly can restore that property into one beautiful piece of property. Absolutely.
jhawkinsf 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Then why haven't they done so?
Claire Williams 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Because it hasn't been up for sale for them to do so?
merrill 3 months, 2 weeks ago
They need to be hired by the property owners.
jhawkinsf 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Correct. Of course, then your statement could apply to every property in town that needs work done to it. All that is lacking here is money and desire on the part of the property owner. How do you propose to change that so the local craftspeople can come in and restore the property, as your original post suggests?
Toto12 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Did you not actually read the story?
jhawkinsf 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The last sentence suggests the commission will create a process. What process was Merrill suggesting that will get craftspeople in and do now what apparently hasn't been done for years. Will this be done by volunteers? By the Historical society? By the city? Will a grant be submitted somewhere in the hopes of getting funds? Details.
Cant_have_it_both_ways 3 months, 2 weeks ago
If the, what ever group, demands that this property be saved and restored...then get off your butts, form a restoration group and meet up on Saturdays and fix it yourselves. Otherwise, tear the damn thing down or lean on the property owners to fix it. The city has no business with this dump.
bearded_gnome 3 months, 2 weeks ago
let's see.
prime location.
good traffic access.
shouldn't be a problem.
...
except ...
consumer1 3 months, 2 weeks ago
The city will give it or lease it long term to Tenant's to Homeowner's for $1.00 per year, who will spend 1 million dollars to rebuild a house worth $135,000.00. Then sell it to an "underpriveledged" buyer for $56,000.00. IF you don't believe me save this blog I call this the twisted Halo effect.
blindrabbit 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Why does the Court House need more parking as Did_I_say_that suggests. A better solution to that problem, require the City and County to move a bunch of those seldom/frequently used patrol cars to an offsite location, say to the the East 11th Street Maintenance area. Many of the vehicles I mentioned look like they are wleded to the ground, as they never move.
verity 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Again, hell has frozen over and it's pretty balmy outside. I agree with consumer1.
The house just down the street from there (1124?) was renovated by a partnership between some organization and Tenant's to Homeowner's. In my opinion a rather bad job was done on the inside, outside looks OK. The people from Tenant's to Homeowner's wouldn't ever tell me exactly what it cost, but it was obvious from the information I did get that it was way more than a new house could have been built for.
Again my opinion, but I don't think any of the buildings at 1106 are worth keeping and with the narrow street, traffic and parking is a nightmare during the work day or when something is going on at the park. I'm surprised there haven't been worse accidents with the police pealing out of there.
beatnik 3 months, 2 weeks ago
it would make a really nice sculpture garden annex/pocket park/place for cultural district sign
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