Whitewashing Blight
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 7 April 2009 — 1 comment below »
Over the past week or two, the blighted historic buildings on the Waterfront have been whitewashed. (Note: Only the sides of the buildings visible to the street were whitewashed; the rear of the buildings are still mired with graffiti. Broken windows and inadequate fencing remain.)
This action was forced upon the owner — David Cury — by the City. It is alarming that these properties — some of which were fully entitled (entitlements that have since expired) — have come to this: blight.
One silver lining to the dreadful blight is that these buildings represent perfect examples (including the Masonic Lodge) of purposeful eminent domain. The owner — in this case, David Cury — refuses to maintain the properties (let alone restore them), just short of a court order, and the properties are integral to the development of the Waterfront.
The properties have not only become an eyesore, but also present a potential for vagrancy, and injury to residents. It may only be the City with the leverage to get something done.
In addition to the controversial Civic Arts Building, the only good news regarding the current state of our vacant historic buildings is Duck Pond park. This second waterfront park is coming online very soon and one of these buildings will be restored and become the focal point of the park’s design. Kudos for the city moving forward on plans to remodel it’s second historic building.
Mr. Cury needs to be kicked in the bottom in regards to his buildings which are unfortunately now indeed blight. I was surprised to learn that the half dead semi-circle of palm trees at the southern end of Promenade are not 100 year old trees as they now appear, but were planted by Cury just a few years ago. Fully grown palm trees are expensive and it’s sad to see them now become as blighted as the buildings that gather around them.
My fears lie in how susceptible any of these old wood buildings are to arson and worse case fire. It would be awful to lose any of these historic souvenirs that ground our traditionally designed waterfront neighborhoods in reality. They may be pricey to remodel, but they give legitimacy to the old-style buildings that have been constructed and will be constructed around our waterfront. Without them, New Urbanism easily can slip into a “Disneyland style” of artificiality where front porches and columns are tacked onto tract homes or strip malls.