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It’s been 84 days since our last Demo Watch roundup, where we recounted a troubling number of shotgun houses meeting the wrecking ball. Today’s Demo Watch is much the same, still dominated by shotgun houses, and properties in general west of Ninth Street. In all, there are 51 dwelling units (including one duplex) that have already been or are slated to be torn down in those 84 days, meaning Louisville loses a unit every 38 hours. And that’s not including these historic buildings in Downtown that also bit the dust.

The hardest hit neighborhood is Russell, where 12 houses are slated for demolition. The Chickasaw and Park Hill neighborhoods are not far behind. Following in line with Taylor Shelton’s article about vacant properties in the West End, mapping the location of these 50 structures reveals a similar pattern as the city’s vacant property heatmap—and, indeed, most of these Demo Watch properties were abandoned, many with deceased owners.

Among the properties listed for demolition is a log cabin in southern Louisville’s Heritage Creek neighborhood (formerly Minor Lane Heights) that sits on the former site of Trinity Pentecostal Tabernacle on South Park Road. That site is being cleared by the Louisville Regional Airport Authority for its Renaissance South Business Park. A listing for the 5.5-acre property doesn’t say much about the cabin other than that it contains “a log cabin (which can be removed).” Another set of three houses set on large, grassy lots on Bardstown Road in Buechel are going to be razed for a mini-storage facility.

As usual, many of these properties have reached the “point of no return” and are not salvageable, but it’s important to see just how much of Louisville’s urban fabric is disappearing before our eyes. We’re not advocating that all of these buildings be saved, just that we see the changing face of the city.

Preservation Louisville also counts these properties on its social media platforms as “intent to demolish” notices are announced as part of its “#TearDownTuesday” campaign. You can follow the group on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And if you’d like to get involved in stopping a demolition, reviving a vacant property, or just be more active in preservation? Marianne Zickuhr, director of Preservation Louisville, wrote Broken Sidewalk from a preservation conference in Utah to tell us how.

We have been telling people to get in touch with Jeana Dunlap and her staff at Metro VAP. We have been trying to educate people and let them know that not all of our #TearDownTuesdays are Metro owned and some have weird back stories, like absentee owners out of the city, owned by a bank, or the owner is deceased. Many folks don’t know that this many demos are happening all the time. It’s a real epidemic for our housing stock and that’s why I started the campaign on social media. Many people thought Preservation Louisville only cares about things like Whiskey Row, and that we are always causing an uproar about some building, but I find they have no idea how many buildings are getting demolished and how few I even have the chance to try and save.

Take a look at the full roster of demolitions below, organized by neighborhood.


demo-watch-412south27

412 South 27th Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: John A. Sweatt
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015

demo-watch-540south17

540 South 17th Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Constance E. Jackson
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-1824jefferson

1824 West Jefferson Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: William Rose
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-1942westchestnut

1942 West Chestnut Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Terry L. Readus
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-1920pirtle

1920 Pirtle Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Dennis & Denise Bouvier
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-2030westmarket

2030 West Market Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Shirley Catlett
Demolition can take place after: May 20, 2015

demo-watch-2725chestnut

2725 West Chestnut Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Ernest D. Gober, Jr.
Demolition can take place after: May 20, 2015

demo-watch-426south28

426–428 South 28th Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Dollie Mae Hamilton; Nelson Toney III
Demolition can take place after: June 4, 2015

demo-watch-1933magazine

1933 Magazine Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: William Miller (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: June 3, 2015

demo-watch-527south27

527 South 27th Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Elizabeth Jessup (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-2417cedar

2417 Cedar Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Jocque Q. Thaxton
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015

demo-watch-409south28th

409 South 28th Street

Neighborhood: Russell
Owner: Marguerite Harris (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: April 24, 2015


demo-watch-611north17

611 North 17th Street

Neighborhood: Portland
Owner: Jay Chestnut
Demolition can take place after: June 20, 2015

demo-watch-2521stcecilia

2521 St. Cecilia Street

Neighborhood: Portland
Owner: Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville
Demolition can take place after: April 16, 2015

demo-watch-2745westmain

2745 West Main Street

Neighborhood: Portland
Owner: Kevin Goodlett
Demolition can take place after: April 30, 2015

demo-watch-1621bank

1621 Bank Street

Neighborhood: Portland
Owner: Theretha R. Vincent (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: April 17, 2015


demo-watch-916cecil

916 Cecil Avenue

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: Household Finance Corp II
Demolition can take place after: April 30, 2015

demo-watch-819dearborn

819 Dearborn Avenue

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: James & Elnora Moore
Demolition can take place after: May 7, 2015

demo-watch-4153hale

4153 Hale Avenue

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: Stonecrest Investments
Demolition can take place after: April 17, 2015

demo-watch-813south38

813 South 38th Street

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: Angela Story
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-3329garland

3329 Garland Avenue

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: Frank G. Wilson, Sr.
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-821south33

821 South 33rd Street

Neighborhood: Chickasaw
Owner: James N. Unseld (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: April 17, 2015


demo-watch-303south38

303 South 38th Street

Neighborhood: Shawnee
Owner: Reena Stevenson
Demolition can take place after: June 20, 2015

demo-watch-670south35

670 South 35th Street

Neighborhood: Shawnee
Owner: Derrick D. & Catherine Smith
Demolition can take place after: May 20, 2015


demo-watch-2632hale

2632 Hale Avenue

Neighborhood: California
Owner: James Kirkland Batson
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015

demo-watch-1828ormsby

1828 West Ormsby Avenue

Neighborhood: California
Owner: JTC LLC
Demolition can take place after: May 20, 2015


demo-watch-1629ormsby

1619 & 1629 West Ormsby Avenue

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Georgia Alvis (Deceased); Aaron M. Elliott
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015

demo-watch-1722ormsby

1722 West Ormsby Avenue

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Theron & Tamar Poole
Demolition can take place after: May 20, 2015

demo-watch-1776dumesnil

1776 Dumesnil Street

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: John W. Young
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015

demo-watch-1310baldwin

1310–1312 Baldwin Street

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Fannie W. Purvis (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015

demo-watch-1812bolling

1812 Bolling Avenue

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Demolition can take place after: April 24, 2015

demo-watch-1616hale

1616 Hale Avenue

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Anissa Butler
Demolition can take place after: June 3, 2015

demo-watch-1750dumesnil

1750 Dumesnil Street

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: 1750 Dumesnil Street Land Trust
Demolition can take place after: June 3, 2015

demo-watch-1547gallagher

1547 Gallagher Street

Neighborhood: Park Hill
Owner: Jubilee Christianity Outreach
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015


demo-watch-1105logan

1105 Logan Street

Neighborhood: Shelby Park
Owner: Anna & Richie Westmoreland
Demolition can take place after: April 12, 2015

demo-watch-1045jackson

1045 South Jackson Street

Neighborhood: Shelby Park
Owner: James Earl Goff, Jr.
Demolition can take place after: April 12, 2015


demo-watch-749clay

749 South Clay Street

Neighborhood: Smoketown
Owner: Doris Manion
Demolition can take place after: June 15, 2015


demo-watch-823chestnut

823 East Chestnut Street

Neighborhood: Phoenix Hill
Owner: Bobby Frank Cagle
Demolition can take place after: June 3, 2015


demo-watch-2518south4

2518 South Fourth Street

Neighborhood: South Louisville
Owner: Ark Land Trust
Demolition can take place after: May 3, 2015


demo-watch-2500southpark

2500 South Park Road

Neighborhood: Heritage Creek
Owner: Louisville Regional Airport Authority
Demolition can take place after: May 1, 2015


demo-watch-3820bardstown

3818–3824 Bardstown Road

Neighborhood: Buechel
Owner: Self Storage of Kentuckiana
Demolition can take place after: June 4, 2015


demo-watch-6317river

6317 River Road

Neighborhood: Prospect
Owner: Mary Lang Properties
Demolition can take place after: June 4, 2015


demo-watch-1521berry

1521 Berry Boulevard

Neighborhood: Taylor Berry
Owner: Knights Athletic Club
Demolition can take place after: July 2, 2015


demo-watch-4201bramers

4201 Bramers Lane

Neighborhood: Southwest Louisville
Owner: John Earl Hartlage
Demolition can take place after: May 27, 2015


demo-watch-200southland

200 East Southland Boulevard

Neighborhood: Southside
Owner: Underhill Associates
Demolition can take place after: June 21, 2015


demo-watch-1309cleo

1309 Cleo Avenue

Neighborhood: Lynnview
Owner: Millie Hudson (Deceased)
Demolition can take place after: April 17, 2015

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Branden Klayko

7 COMMENTS

  1. Unfortunately, many of these houses are “unbuyable” – because 1) there is no one legally available to sign a deed (owners dead, estate never probated, etc.) or 2) the owner would have to have cash to make repairs, since banks won’t loan money on properties that don’t have sufficient value to support the loan. (They’ll loan hundreds of thousands for new construction in the East End, but not a 1/4 of that to repair an existing structure in the West End.)

  2. One comment unrelated to the pros or cons of the demolition. The property listed at 2500 South Park Road is not in Heritage Creek nor was it is Minor Lane Heights. This information probably came from the RAA. The city of Heritage Creek exists in its own right in the Highview area on Cedar Creek Road, several miles to the east of the former city of Minor Lane Heights. The building in question, which I was in a few times as a teenager, is in unicorporated Jefferson County in an area which was once known as South Park. It has been vacant for many years.

  3. I SEE A LOT OF HOMES THAT HAVE A GOOD OUT LOOK. CAN ANYBODY PURCHASE THESE HOMES, AND FROM WHO. WHAT IS THE GENERAL COST AND RULES TO BUY THEM? I LIVE IN PA. AND GOING TO MOVE TO KY AND PURCHASE A PLACE TO LIVE. SO IF I COULD GET ONE OF THE PLACES SET FOR DEMO REASONABLE I WOULD VERY MUCH CONSIDER FIXING ONE UP TO LIVE IN.

  4. I have looked at several of these houses on Ormsby. I would be interested in redeveloping many of them to extend the supply of housing for displaced veterans. Who would I contact to purchase some of these prior to demolition? Help.

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