Demolition of vacant Detroit homes to start

Published: Wednesday, 2/26/2014

ASSOCIATED PRESS

DETROIT Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said today that strategic demolition of some fire-damaged vacant homes will begin within 30 days.

The announcement came at the start of Duggans first State of the City address and the first such speech since Detroit was allowed to enter bankruptcy.

He said his administration and the City Council are both working to improve the city.

The change has started and the change in Detroit is real, he said.

Duggan said the demolition will be paid for using $20 million in an unused escrow fund earmarked for burned houses.

If you drive through most of the neighborhoods today, you wouldnt know there was a national recovery, Duggan said in his evening address. People in this community see parts of the country doing well and even parts of the city doing well and others are left behind.

Duggan, a former medical center chief, was elected in November. His power is restricted while Detroit remains under state oversight, but blight removal and demolition of what could be 70,000 or more vacant houses and other buildings are under his control.

Detroit is going through the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, and Duggans address came less than a week after state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr filed his plan to pay creditors while providing money for city services and improvements in the coming years.

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Demolition of vacant Detroit homes to start