Demolition underway

It took some time, but demolition has come to abandoned properties around the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. corridor.

Last weekend, the first buildings were torn down with money Kinston received with a Community Development Block Grant in 2012. The city acquired $100,000 with the CDBG and matched the grant with an extra $25,000.

Kinston Planning Director Adam Short said there are currently 13 properties in the process of being demolished.

This is a good first step, but we have a lot to do in terms of demolition, Short said. Hopefully, this is a step in the right direction and will open the door for redevelopment by removing the impediments.

Short said six properties have bids on them with the remaining ones up for auction in the coming weeks. Short also said there could be more homes demolished in the future with a program amendment. The Kinston City Council approved additional properties to be removed in an August meeting.

In the next month or two, we should see the remaining seven properties coming down, Short said. With the homes were trying to add through the program amendment, it could be a little longer because theres an administrative process for the grant we have to go through to add to the project, but it wont slow down anything with the other demolition.

Rick Bostic, a local construction and demolition organization, was hired for a bid on a property on Blount Street. Anthony Gargano, a driver with the company, said the crew had started working on it Monday and plans to have it finished before the week is over.

We should probably have it done by (today), Gargano said. It depends on weather and the debris. If it rains, it wont prevent us from working, but it will slow down production when we take the debris to the landfill. Kinston City Manager Tony Sears said the demolition was high on the agenda and was glad to see it being executed.

This has been a top priority of city council for quite some time, Sears said. Were fortunate to have received some CDBG money to make this happen, and its just good to be able to use federal funds here in Kinston. To the citizens, this is an opportunity to see a return on their federal tax dollars.

Kinston City Councilman Sammy Aiken said while he liked the progress, there is still plenty to accomplish.

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Demolition underway