56 Houses Left

This time tomorrow, nothing will be left on Primghar. Remains of the first burn were finally removed today. The one across the street from it, 12809, went down today as well.

12809 Primghar – Destroyed 11/28

Finally, one of my favorites,12803 Primghar, is slated to come down tomorrow. The large one I remember being in awe of as a child. The one which I watched its demise: From pristine two story, to rampant vandalism, to its current state of burned up literally in half. I’m hoping to get some video of its destruction. The crew on the last house said that, “If all the paperwork goes through.”

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4325 Gladwyn- A customized brick house on Gladywn was taken on Monday, Nov. 19th This was another home that was vacated within the year. This house stands out to me not only because of the unusual brickwork, but the intensive gardening the residents had done. All kinds of beautiful and edible plant life existed in their boundaries. I believe it was an older couple who lived there- I would often see the lady outside working in her yard. She must have tended to her flowers until the day they moved. A story about gardening: My mom remained in our house on Brumley for almost a year after acquiring her new home. The house she wanted needed major work (like taking out a 1960s inground pool for starters) and she didn’t want to be in the house while work was being done. My mom also loves doing yard and landscape work on her own. So, for the last two Spring seasons she was in Carrollton, she and I would dig up flowers and small bushes in the empty lots to use at her new place. I also found myself engaged in the yard raiding practice for my own home. One day, we were digging up some Lily-of-the-Valley off Gladwyn just a few home lots away from the brick house. The lady was in her yard watching us, but my mom just kept pulling up the leafy plants. I tried to ignore the woman at the brick house, but once I looked up, sure enough this woman was staring right at us. (more…)

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From the last post until November 5th, Carrollton had been a relatively calm and lonely place. A perfect place to spend some time walking and thinking while taking pictures of the autumn colors. Most people find the area creepy and are scared away by the graffiti and the broken windows. I must confess, I stray less far from my car nowadays than I did a year ago, and I am never without my phone or other useful items. I find that I now try and bring others along when possible. Yet, the days when I am alone in Carrollton, I am at ease. Never off guard, but definitely not scared. Maybe it is because I know the area too well. Or, maybe the sense of security from living in such a tight-knit community never quite wore off.

I was beginning to wonder if anything left would be destroyed, or if Lambert was finished for the winter. Years ago, I once heard rumors that they wanted everything gone by 2006. When my mom was approached with a buyout in the spring of ’06, rumors of finishing by spring of 2007 were rampant. Well, they still have dozens of structures and its already almost ’08. So, given their track record, I assumed that they would just let things sit until spring of next year.

Despite not doing any demo work in the last six weeks, four houses were taken this week alone. Right now, some of the wrecking equipment remains in the area, indicating that they will be working again soon. (more…)

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