By Christie Duffy
Correspondent
The floor is caved in and the bar is about to tumble down with it. Happy birthday streamers still strung up like the owner just left yesterday.
“It’s definitely unsafe to go in there,” said Camden resident Dashon Ways.
Caved in roofs. Missing windows. A huge hole in the foundation. There are at least 596 properties in Camden that look like this.
“It’s been a concern of our residents for many, many years,” said Mayor Dana Redd.
Mayor Redd says they will all be demolished. They’re structurally unsafe. But for residents walking by them every day, it’s not just the risk of a roof falling down, but drug sales, squatters and fires that make these empty homes havens for crime.
“We do not want to lose our market rate, home ownership base to leaving Camden. We want them to stay. I think we are starting to turn the corner, if you will, in Camden because of what we ahve doen with public safety, because of all of the economic development announces that are being made. And the partnership that we have with our school district to improve our schools for families that reside in the city,” Redd said.
City officials want to see more construction, large scale development, and cleaned up open space.
And that transformation is already underway.
A city official said what used to be a blighted block now has sale signs on brand new town homes.
Every single neighborhood in Camden will see a wrecking ball as part of this demolition push. But not all the boards will come down.
The city says in the initial survey of properties throughout Camden, there were thousands that they wanted to take down. The one where the floor caved in will come down in this first round. But another one that looks blighted too won’t be included in the first round. They say they had to prioritize on the properties that were really structurally unsound.
“I would love to see all this demolition completed within 12 to 18 months,” said Redd.
The large scale demo was made possible by an $8 million bond. Camden hasn’t had an investment grade bond rating in over 15 years, but now a BBB+ rating from Standard and Poor’s and a parking surcharge has made it all possible.