The writing is on the wall....

So, today is a monumental day of sorts-

because today, four men came from the City, pulled up in four separate cars, and walked up to the abandoned house next door that has cloud filled skies painted on the boarded up windows, and knocked hard.  I heard them knocking, and went to look out the window, and saw them there, and there was a white note posted on the front porch pillar.  I went downstairs to see if I could catch a word with them.

Speaking from the front door out to them on the street, I asked them what was happening, was the building being condemned, were they going to tear it down, who they were, etc.

They said, they've started the process of condemning it so it can be bull-dozed.  The process can take up to 6 months - a year.  The one man said they were going to see if they could move it along a little faster though (maybe because there's barely a roof, and lots of holes in the facade- pretty destroyed looking).

I yelled to my neighbor Reg as he walked by what was happening- and he said -as brightly as ever- it's going to take that long?  We can do it faster than that!  I know, I said, I've got some hammers and crowbars in the basement!  It is a strange thing to feel like we all have just been sitting around and waiting for the City to do something about it- mostly because none of us have the capital that it requires to deal with this asbestos loaded and fragile structure properly.  It is dis-empowering.  That being said, (and I have not chronicled at all the many many many stories that surrounded that house in the first year and a half after we first moved here) this has been quite a journey, and we have taken a lot of action with that house- as much as we maybe possibly could have without being in jail for arson, trespassing, and the list goes on!

When Danny came home he went and read the notice, and it was a Search Warrant.  I guess it's for Robert Whiteside, the owner of that tax-delinquent and dilapidated property.  The four men said they were just starting the process to get it condemned and taken down- so I guess this is how it starts.

Maybe there's a chance we can get the foundation saved, so we can make a Bio-cellar out of it.....
I have some work to do to find out the possibilities of that.  Some people to talk with....

For now, I need to document this house as much as I can.  Take photos of it- in all it's decomposing glory, because soon it will only be a memory.  A big big memory in our lives, the lives of the kids on this street, their families, and the families that lived before all of us here.

Ashes to ashes dust to dust.