Batavia razes dilapidated house

BATAVIA – The city of Batavia has razed a dilapidated house known as a neighborhood eyesore and the source of repeated police calls.

Now, city officials see a bright future for the property and the surrounding neighborhood on Batavia’s northeast side.

Demolition workers this week tore down the house at 916 Park St., located immediately to the south of the Eastside Batavia Cemetery.

Last year, the city purchased the property from the estate of a Batavia woman who died early in 2018.

The home had become the subject of a lawsuit designed to remove inhabitants who the city contended were occupying the house illegally.

Neighbors complained about loud noise and fights, resulting in frequent visits to the property by Batavia police.

The two-story frame house had a sagging roof and rotting exterior trim. There were inoperable and unlicensed vehicles parked on the property, along with junk in the backyard and garbage inside the house.

The city had placed liens on the property for unpaid building code violations totaling more than $200,000 and was seeking to condemn the structure before the sale agreement was reached.

Batavia Community and Economic Development Director Scott Buening said the city will list the property with a broker and sell the land, which covers more than a half-acre, for redevelopment as a single-family home site.

Batavia Finance Director Peggy Colby said the city has spent about $126,000 to acquire, secure and clear the property.

This includes the $74,200 purchase price and the $25,000 base price for razing the building and removing 2,200 square feet of asbestos.

Other costs include $19,600 for cleaning up the property and $5,000 to relocate two persons who were living in the house.

Incidental costs included boarding up the structure when it was first acquired, along with environmental testing samples, lawn mowing and padlocking the building.

With the cemetery to the north, the property is surrounded on three sides by homes in a neighborhood which Mayor Jeff Schielke said has seen considerable investment in recent years, with new homeowners making renovations to their houses.

Most if not all of the city’s demolition cost is expected to be recouped using grant money from the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

The city has already sold two small remnant parcels on North Van Buren Street for $9,000, Buening said.

The building code fines that had been attached to the property as part of a judicial lien were lifted when the city bought the property, Buening said.

Buening said the city has not determined its selling price for the property, waiting until it has been completely cleared before making an assessment of its potential.

The property is zoned for a single-family home and the city has no plans to change the designation, Buening said.

The long, narrow parcel cannot be subdivided, so the property’s future will be as the site for one single-family home with a large yard, Buening said.

The future buyer will be required to install a sidewalk along the property’s frontage, connecting with the sidewalk to the south, Buening said.