Before: In January 2020 the burned-out house had been boarded up.
It was on the evening of Aug. 18, 2019, a warm summer day, that a fire all but destroyed the one-story house at 1027 Seventh Ave. S.E. For almost two years the ruined dwelling sat there surrounded by debris, but now the lot has been completely cleared of the structure and otherwise cleaned up.
Here’s what I saw when a bike ride took me past the address on Wednesday last:
And after: The lot at 1027 Seventh S.E., the way it looked on the fire’s two-year anniversary.
Several months after the fire, when the damaged house had been boarded up but the site was otherwise unchanged, I asked the city of Albany’s code compliance officer, Kris Schendel, about the situation, and he told me then he had been in touch with the owner.
This week, on another ride that included the 1000 block of Seventh, I almost couldn’t find the address. The ruined house was gone, and so was all the stuff that had been lying around it in the grass. The grass itself was cut.
Not knowing how to reach the owner, I again asked Kris Schendel if he knew anything about the changed circumstances or had anything to do with the change.
The answer was yes, he did. After no action had been taken, he told me, he had put some fines or liens on the property, and the owner started working with him. It’s his understanding that the owner at the time of the fire signed the property back to the bank.
“We worked with the bank’s attorney to reach the agreement to lower the fines if the building was brought into compliance or demolished,” Schendel wrote in an email. “Ultimately they decided to demolish it. I believe they stated they have a buyer at this time and the property would be sold soon.”
The house there, with one story and a basement, apparently was more than 100 years old. Linn County tax records say it was built in 1900, but that’s pretty much what the records say about any house built around that time or before.
Now the lot looks ready to be put to a new use. I don’t know what if anything gets built there. But for what it’s worth, the lot’s zoning is “mixed use residential,” which the Albany development code says “allows a mixture of neighborhood commercial uses that meet the daily needs of area residents.”
Sounds like that leaves the door open pretty wide. (hh)
Sounds like a Scott Lepman opportunity…
Here we go again. The tyrannical government telling people what they can and can’t do with their private property. And fining people who won’t comply with their edicts! I think we should march on city hall and hang the code compliance officer in effigy, just for starters. Socialists, communists, petty tyrants; a pox on every one of those government workers. What would Patrick Henry say? For goodness sake, stop treading on us!!!
That place was an eyesore that had to be dealt with.
I hope you don’t choke on your tongue, John, when you pull it out of your cheek !
:=)
Out on S. Pacific in the 3500 block that fire site has been completely cleared. Time will only tell what will arise from the ashes!
This house was built in 1906 or 1907 by my grandfather Arthur McClain. My mother was born in that house!