Comments on: Along the Path to Redevelopment, Decatur Commission Will Have to Classify Areas as “Slums”

By: Deanne

Deanne — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:30:58 +0000

Karass, I absolutely agree with you that the Rec Center’s gotta be redone! Fire Station #1 too! (Good grief, the fire folks have to eat & sleep there! Scary!) I just envision a boarded up, abandoned building or city block when I hear slum or blighted area. If these particular bonds are available to all projects that qualify, then no problem. (Especially since we’d have to qualify too.) I’d just hate to see our high financial rating get us something that’s in limited supply at a cost to a project that better fits the intended use. We do have access to other bonds. Avoid the bad karma that comes with doing the right things the wrong way.

By: karass

karass — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:28:41 +0000

IMHO, the Rec Center is close to unsalvagable….the bathrooms are marginal, the downstairs is like any other Decatur renovated below ground basement, and that 1950s/60s brick ranch style has little architectural value. I can just imagine what the plumbing, electrical system, and asbestos-laden walls and ceilings are like.

By: Deanne

Deanne — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:12:24 +0000

The City does an excellent job of sussing out funding for projects, but this one’s troubling me. It’s not the stigma of having a designated “slum area” – it’s that we’re calling an area a slum that’s clearly not in order to go this route. The Rec Center and Fire Dept #1 obviously need overhauling, but the existing buildings & properties are not eyesores. (The Public Works site is, so it probably fits the intended use.) Are the bonds available to all projects that qualify, or is this a limited pot? It’d be a terrible thing if we succeed, but divert resources from another community’s truly blighted property.