Here are the next 2 blighted properties that Rockford plans to demolish
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city plans to raze an abandoned car wash at the corner of Kishwaukee Street and Fifth Avenue that officials say has been subject to numerous break-ins and fires.
City Council members on Monday voted 12-0 to hire N-Trak Group of Loves Park for $67,000 to demolish the former Octopus car wash at 602 Kishwaukee St., which has been vacant for about a decade.
“It is a blighted property that has had numerous police and fire calls out there,” said Brandon Kruse, construction services coordinator for the city of Rockford. “We’ve had numerous fires in the building. We’ve had to board it up multiple times.”
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The property is owned by Southwest Rockford Community Development Corporation. The city will place liens against it for the cost of demolition.
“They’ve been trying to find suitors to redevelop it, and they just couldn’t find anyone that had the means to redevelop it,” Kruse said. “They weren’t making any progress on the redevelopment and the city really doesn’t want that corner to continue to fall apart the way it is.”
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The potential redevelopment of that building was very limited because it was setup as a car wash, Kruse said.
“They’ve had multiple developers walk through that property and just said that it’s too setup for a car wash to be redeveloped into any other opportunities,” he said. “That’s why demolition is the option here, besides all the other issues with the homeless and the fires and police calls out there.”
More demolitions
Aldermen on Monday also approved a $13,915 contract with DPI Construction Inc. of Pecatonica to tear down the remaining structures and cleanup debris at 540 15th Ave., a vacant commercial building that was severely damaged in a fire more than a month ago.
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The building, formerly home to Smoke Zone tobacco shop and an attached warehouse, was engulfed in a fire May 21 that caused more than $40,000 in damage, according to Rockford Fire Department.
The property is owned by the Winnebago County trustee program after the previous owners were delinquent on taxes, Winnebago County tax records show.
“They’ve had multiple people come forward and want to make a purchase on it, and then they walk through it and the look at everything and try to make the numbers work and they just can’t,” Kruse said. “Best case scenario for us and what we’re doing is to clear the whole site, green it, and then hope someone else comes in to a vacant lot and wants to do a redevelopment on that.”
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas.
