LAWRENCE — State officials joined Mayor Dean Jessup and other Lawrence leaders recently to kick off Lawrence’s blight elimination program, through which six dilapidated houses are being torn down.
A news conference was held near 4508 N. Franklin Road, a duplex that is slated to be torn down. The city, partnering with the Lawrence Redevelopment Commission and the Lawrence Community Development Corp., secured a $130,000 federal grant facilitated by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority to pay for the demolitions.
The CDC will make the Franklin Road property available for mixed residential and commercial development. The property at 4430 Lyle St. will be available as part of a much larger tract that is ideal for commercial or industrial development. A lot at 4608 Kingman Drive faces the giant concrete wall that supports Interstate 465 and thus is not suitable for development, so it’s likely a neighbor or two will purchase it to extend their yards. Habitat for Humanity, working with the CDC, will build new homes at 4621 Vernon Ave., which was torn down June 15, and 4402 Clinton St.