By the end of the year, 34 will be under contract for teardown.

With the demolition of 966 Belmont - a highly visible house for the hundreds of motorists who travel up 29th Street - five abandoned or blighted homes have been torn down by the city. 'This is a good day for taking back our neighborhoods.'Ĭity Hall watchers by now are familiar with the big push to reduce blight in Ashland, with the city commission's commitment of $250,000 into the general fund to tear down old abandoned homes. 'This shows we are serious about the fight on blight in our community,' he said. That's the kind of work that comes with the hand of experience.Īnd for you animal lovers out there, the raccoon living inside the blue home scampered off safely into the woods after the third or so dig into the house.Ĭity workers and officials stood in the street as Ekers conducted his symphony of destruction, wearing neon yellow reflective vests.Īmong them was Mayor Matt Perkins, with a grin on his face. Not bad for a house literally a sidewalk width from the road. Of course, it's a bit more controlled than that - Ekers, the owner of Bobby's Mulch - is an old hand at demolition work.įor all the thrashing claw made to the home, just a smidgen of the front porch fell into Belmont. By 10:30 a.m., all that was left is a pile of clap boards and rubble, as if a bomb had gone off.

The long dark prybar