Historical April 1986 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Today, on my block which is the 6100 block of Pershing, I helped my neighbor look for a lost cat. I must confess I have not taken a close look at my block since the fall. Last summer I had talked to our alderman, Dan McGuire, about boarding up two 6-family apartment buildings a few houses west of me that had been vacated.
We have a good alderman and I know he has done all he can. I talked to Nancy Farmer at the Community Council Office and I know she has done all she can.
Now I am wondering if I and my neighbors have done all we can and I think not.
These two buildings have obviously not been boarded and doors are open in some places and many windows are busted out.
There is a broken out first floor window with old bed springs leaning up against it to serve as a ladder for anyone to climb in.
There is a broken out window on a back porch door that anyone could climb through.
There is a wide open basement door that anyone can walk through. I am shocked and appalled by the danger this poses to all of us. How easy it would be to hide out in one of these. How easy it would be to snatch a child into one of these or an adult for that matter.
In expressing my concern to neighbors today I discovered that there is another apartment building east of me on the opposite side of the street that has been vacant as long and is also not boarded up.
I was told that there is another west of me on the Waterman side of the alley where children have been playing inside all winter. How many other dangerous abandoned buildings are there in our neighborhood that I don’t even know about? Aren’t there laws against attractive nuisances? Aren’t there laws requiring the boarding up of vacant buildings such as these?
From what I hear legal proceedings have been initiated.
The courts take a long time to act. Can we afford to wait? Margaret H. Campbell 61XX Pershing
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, April 1986.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1986_04.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
