City levels another house in Birdtown
2070 Dowd housed a daycare facility, but became obsolete.
Built with money donated by the community, designed by noted Cleveland-based architectural firm Walker and Weeks, and opened as a childcare facility on February 19, 1925, the house located at 2070 Dowd Ave. operated as a nursery for 77 years.
It closed in 2002 and sat vacant and in a deteriorating state until the Center for Families and Children – the group that owned the property – surrendered it to the city in November. The city razed the house several days ago.
The parcel is directly across from Harrison Elementary School.
Reached via e-mail in September when the Lakewood City Council first considered the acquisition, Dave Reines, vice president of resource development and external affairs at the Center for Families and Children, explained why the private non-profit wanted to unload the house:
“The property in Lakewood is a former daycare center that was acquired by the Center for Families and Children through a merger that occurred in the 1970’s. We have not used the property since 2003 and have made numerous attempts to try and sell it, but we have been unsuccessful. Given the current real estate market and the likelihood that our efforts to sell would continue to be unsuccessful our Board recently decided to turn the property over to the City of Lakewood.”
What’s next for the property?
At a council meeting in October, Councilperson Mary Louise Madigan (Ward 4) said the estimated cost to rehab the structure was about $300,000 versus only $15,000 in demolition expenses. Director of Planning and Economic Development Nathan Kelly said the city investigated the possibility of turning the house into artist live/work space, but found the cost to be prohibitive.
Like the nearby parcel at 2042 Dowd Ave. that was recently cleared of its house, the city may erect a single family home on the plot. The city received $300,000 from the county via the federal government that can be used to fund construction of homes for low-to-moderate income homebuyers.
If the property is sold before March 2011, the city will share a cut of the net proceeds with the Center for Families and Children.
What does Birdtown know about this?
If you walked down your street, or a street close to yours, and saw two vacant lots where houses recently stood, how would you feel? One week the houses are there, and then the next week they are gone. An absence of detailed information on the matter might create an atmosphere of uncertainty. Are the lots going to stay vacant and attract nuisances? If not, who will rebuild the homes and when?
Citizens of Birdtown – especially discouraged longtime residents who could use a morale boost – deserve to know exactly what the city has planned. Elected officials and appointed administrators need to go above and beyond their typically minimal communication efforts. Sticking a letter full of public relations boilerplate in someone’s front door handle doesn’t cut it (see this letter (.PDF) regarding the Dowd demolition). The city ought to do a full-scale mailing to the entire neighborhood. It’s good news, why not share it?
2107 Robin St. is probably next on the demo list
2107 Robin is situated next to an empty parcel of land
Fannie Mae sold 2107 Robin St. to the city on December 18th for $24,000. The house is vacant, had been in foreclosure and has been designated as a nuisance due to its poor physical condition. With the wrecking ball sitting on Dowd just a couple of streets away, it’s a fair bet the structure on 2107 Robin won’t be standing for too many more days.
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