Real Estate Developer Courts Eternal Damnation
I saw this on the news last night. This is one of those things that makes me so mad that I will refrain from commenting too much on it. I'll just sound like a demented psychopath.
Apparently, KTHV ran a story on this house last week. Within days of the report, the house was torn down. While I think the original intent was to generate public interest in saving the house, I think the report hastened its demise. I think the people at Diamond Developements saw the story and ordered immedate demolition before someone sued them and tied the property up in court. That is what I would do if I were them.
Read the article and I'm sure you'll see why. I just hope that there is a special pit in hell for pernicious (is there any other kind?) real estate developers.
[the text is taken from KTHV's website as are the photos. You can watch the video clip at their site.]
Civil War House Torn Down; Sixth Grader Upset
On Friday, Shelby Estell showed off a house on Highway 5 in Bryant she loved because it's full of history.
“Even though it's torn up, it's still so beautiful," she said.
Monday, the Civil War era home was torn down. Diamond Development II owns the land and leveled it to turn the area into a housing addition.
Shelby says, "I'm disgusted about how they would do that just for the money."
Lisa Lake from Diamond Development II says the company had plans to demolish the home for some time. She says the house was beyond repair and had been stripped of anything of historical value worth saving.
Shelby disagrees. She found some papers at the house dating to the early 1900s and one she thinks is from the Civil War."It lists all the superintendents in the war and if you flip it over, it says something about people attacking," says Shelby.
Full of determination, the 11-year-old says she's not giving up on a home once occupied by Henry Rector. He was Arkansas' sixth governor who decided the state would secede from the Union during the Civil War.
"If we could save some of the ground, we could use some of the old wood and rebuild part of the house," says Shelby.
Her teachers aren't giving up either.Brandy Brazeale says, “Put a marker there to show this is where the house once stood and the historic significance to Arkansas and the nation.
"Shelby and her family believe there is still history buried under the rubble, but getting to it will be tough. They've been told before archeologists can dig, they need permission from the property owners. Diamond Development II tells Today's THV they won't allow it.
Shelby says it's unfair."We worked really, really hard and then they just decided just to tear it down and didn't even give us a chance," she says.
Jerod Clark, Reporter
Created: 2/20/2007 8:22:01 PMUpdated: 2/20/2007 10:41:31 PM
The house last week:
This week:
What really kills me is, "She [Lisa Lake] says the house was beyond repair and had been stripped of anything of historical value worth saving." Stripped of anything of historical value? What about the goddamn house? Besides that, very few houses are utterly beyond repair, it is just a matter of how much time, money, and effort is required to do so.
Apparently, KTHV ran a story on this house last week. Within days of the report, the house was torn down. While I think the original intent was to generate public interest in saving the house, I think the report hastened its demise. I think the people at Diamond Developements saw the story and ordered immedate demolition before someone sued them and tied the property up in court. That is what I would do if I were them.
Read the article and I'm sure you'll see why. I just hope that there is a special pit in hell for pernicious (is there any other kind?) real estate developers.
[the text is taken from KTHV's website as are the photos. You can watch the video clip at their site.]
Civil War House Torn Down; Sixth Grader Upset
On Friday, Shelby Estell showed off a house on Highway 5 in Bryant she loved because it's full of history.
“Even though it's torn up, it's still so beautiful," she said.
Monday, the Civil War era home was torn down. Diamond Development II owns the land and leveled it to turn the area into a housing addition.
Shelby says, "I'm disgusted about how they would do that just for the money."
Lisa Lake from Diamond Development II says the company had plans to demolish the home for some time. She says the house was beyond repair and had been stripped of anything of historical value worth saving.
Shelby disagrees. She found some papers at the house dating to the early 1900s and one she thinks is from the Civil War."It lists all the superintendents in the war and if you flip it over, it says something about people attacking," says Shelby.
Full of determination, the 11-year-old says she's not giving up on a home once occupied by Henry Rector. He was Arkansas' sixth governor who decided the state would secede from the Union during the Civil War.
"If we could save some of the ground, we could use some of the old wood and rebuild part of the house," says Shelby.
Her teachers aren't giving up either.Brandy Brazeale says, “Put a marker there to show this is where the house once stood and the historic significance to Arkansas and the nation.
"Shelby and her family believe there is still history buried under the rubble, but getting to it will be tough. They've been told before archeologists can dig, they need permission from the property owners. Diamond Development II tells Today's THV they won't allow it.
Shelby says it's unfair."We worked really, really hard and then they just decided just to tear it down and didn't even give us a chance," she says.
Jerod Clark, Reporter
Created: 2/20/2007 8:22:01 PMUpdated: 2/20/2007 10:41:31 PM
The house last week:
This week:
What really kills me is, "She [Lisa Lake] says the house was beyond repair and had been stripped of anything of historical value worth saving." Stripped of anything of historical value? What about the goddamn house? Besides that, very few houses are utterly beyond repair, it is just a matter of how much time, money, and effort is required to do so.posted by John | 5:49 AM
3 Comments:
That is sick and sad. A civil war era house? What a gem! Seriously that house should have been lovingly rehabbed and not torn down. Utterly disgusting. I can't believe they didn't think the house itself was of historical value!
Sons of &^%$es (censorship mine). I'd be furious too. So sad!!
I feel sick. Why is this world so wasteful? And why on earth do we tear down perfectly good old houses for yet another crappy housing development?!
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