Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Belleville NewsDemocrat
St. Clair County announces 34 more derelict homes will be demolished with state grant
By Lexi Cortes,
24 days ago
St. Clair County will soon demolish 34 more derelict homes using money from a $2 million state grant.
These homes — 33 in Washington Park and one in East Carondelet — are part of the latest round of county demolitions. They will cost $306,216.
The county previously used $260,780 of the grant on the first round of demolitions that started in May: a vacant commercial building in Belleville and 30 houses in Cahokia Heights.
The St. Clair County Board executed a contract for the latest round of demolitions with Murphy Excavation and Contracting LLC on Aug. 1.
The contract states that the work must be completed within 45 days after the contractor receives notice to proceed. That deadline can be extended due to weather delays.
The most expensive demolition will be a home at 1512 Purdue Ave. in Washington Park, one of the most intact buildings. Many others are missing roofs and walls from fires.
The Purdue Avenue house will cost $21,240 to demolish. The rest of the home demolitions will cost between $4,000 and about $18,500.
Most of the 34 vacant properties to be demolished were owned by individuals before the county acquired them for back taxes. Six were owned by companies based in East St. Louis, Collinsville, Florida and Washington, D.C.
The county tries to sell some foreclosed properties to interested investors at tax auctions. Most of the homes slated for demolition don’t get sold because of their “severely deteriorated conditions,” St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern said in a message to the community on Tuesday.
More demolitions will be announced until the grant money runs out.
Drone photograph showing a row of condemned properties slated for demolition along N. 60th St. in East St. Louis, Ill. on July 29, 2024. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat A condemned property slated for demolition at 1637 N 49th St. in East St. Louis, Ill. on July 29, 2024. The parcel of land’s individual bidding price is $6,000. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat A condemned property slated for demolition at 1537 Purdue Ave. in East St. Louis, Ill. on July 29, 2024. Joshua Carter/Belleville News-Democrat
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0