PEORIA, IL -- Activist Hedy Elliott Gardner pleaded with the Peoria City Council on July 12 to do something about the old Harrison School. It has become a menace to Peoria's South Side neighborhood.
Here are photos she sent of the situation there:
As you can see this is a disaster waiting to happen -- open doors, open windows, adults and children running in and out... imagine what could occur, she told the council.
And what will they do about it?
Under the previous superintendent and the board that enabled her, the school was sold for $10 to a guy who was going to recycle the materials. Instead he took what he wanted then skipped town.
Instead this sturdy building should have been preserved and repurposed, even leased to someone who would use it well. .
Now it's a wreck. Will the city act? Don't hold your breath!
-- Elaine Hopkins
" Let's be real! " Agreed that it's an ' eyesore ' . But, tracking down absentee landlords and holding them accountable for addressing such ' eyesores ' is a lengthy legal process that often involves numerous court proceedings that our deficit-ridden city isn't in a position to resolve. If the private sector isn't interested in preserving an old building in a blighted neighborhood, that's not the city's fault. So, there's only so much that city administration can do. The public doesn't realize how many of these old, abandoned, school buildings exist in town in similar shape? Even if they're saved? Without significant urban renewal and gentrification, who's going to preserve and pay for their constant operation in crime-ridden and impoverished neighborhoods steadily losing population? Eminent domain was ruled unconstitutional.
Just because nothing's happening upon the surface doesn't mean that something isn't happening behind the scenes. It just takes time. Besides, it's not as if that's the only part of South Peoria plagued with blight.
Posted by: Christopher Callen | July 18, 2016 at 05:55 PM