May 19, 2013
Augusta's nickname is the "Garden City", but the old abandoned houses are like weeds among the beautiful showplaces around the city.
Now, Augusta commissioners are saying out with the old, and in with...anything else.
Looking at the front of one house on Greene Street, it doesn't look too bad. But as soon as you step around the corner, you'll find debris literally pouring out from the inside.
"It'd be so nice if they'd come clean it up," says John McCraney, who lives next door to the dilapidated house.
This used to be a pretty nice piece of property...but now, it just looks like a bombed out building.
"It's just a mess," McCraney says.
But the only weapon that did all this damage is time, and lots of it.
For more than ten years now, McCraney has looked at this eyesore every day.
"I just gave up on this. I try not to see it, try not to look at it," he says.
But if a new ordinance passes in the Augusta Commission, his view may get a little better.
On Monday, the Administrative Services Committee gave the city the go-ahead to demolish a list of 20 houses and buildings around Augusta that have dilapidated beyond repair--including the one next to McCraney's.
"I'd be glad when it's gone," McCraney says.
The final approval will have to come from a majority vote at next week's commission meeting. After talking to a few of the commissioners over the phone Tuesday night, it doesn't look like that'll be a problem at all.
