Commission presents Mayor with brick commemorating 700th #BlightFight demolition

At the Commission Meeting on May 7, the Commissioners joined together at the podium to present Mayor Lester Miller with a special gift: a brick from the 700^th blighted and dangerous structure removed from a neighborhood as part of the ongoing Blight Fight.

"We know that this is just a single milestone, and your Commission is behind you. Here's to 700 more; congratulations," Mayor Pro Tem Clark said.

"I think we can all agree that we're doing great work in that area. We say time and time again that this is more than tearing down; it's about building up," replied Mayor Lester Miller, pointing out the millions the Commission has put toward beginning the in-fill process.

The 700^th demolition happened at 1160 Holt Avenue, an abandoned house with a large hole in the roof, the foundation appearing to crumble, walls falling in, and obvious signs of fires inside.

And as Mayor Pro Tem Clark pointed out right before the demolition, it was also significant for the neighborhood. It was the 22^nd demolition in the neighborhood surround Central High and Miller Middle Schools, showing a focus to remove dangerous structures from a specific area. When #BlightFight began, Code Enforcement began by looking at dangerous structures around schools and recreation centers to make the first improvements in areas where children and families would gather.

"For three years, we have focused on removing blighted and dangerous structures from our neighborhoods because people said they were tired of it," Mayor Lester Miller told the assembled group at that time. "They were tired of how it looked…tired of the crime it can attract…tired of the creatures that live there. Tired of thinking their neighborhoods had been forgotten."

"Our children - and my child does walk to school already, so this is very personal to me - deserve to start and end their school days with a pleasant walk, one where they can get focused on their day or prepare for evening activities," he said. "Not a walk where the houses are falling in, rodents live, and present other dangers. They don't deserve this view."

At both the demolition and the presentation of the brick, the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem both reminded the community that the demolitions are just the first step - albeit a very visible and quick one - in the #BlightFight.

Currently, several groups are working on ways to build affordable homes or even get people to buy older homes to revitalize them. Macon-Bibb and the Peyton Anderson Foundation gave $1 million ($500,000 from each) to Habitat for Humanity to build eight homes, and the mortgage payments from those will be used to build even more in the future. Additionally, $3.2 million ($1.6 million each from Macon-Bibb and the Knight Foundation) was given to NewTown Macon and the Historic Macon Foundation, and $7.5 million started a revolving loan fund to build even more housing.

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