And Poof It Was Gone

This one went too easy, therefore I don't think that the City of Lorain had anything to do with it.

This was one of the neighborhood houses.  Granted, it's been empty for a couple of years and it's been showing the signs of neglect and thieving neighbors.  By thieving neighbors I mean the neighbors that raided this house and took everything they could out of it.  There haven't been any doors on this house in at least a year.  I'm assuming the night the doors got lifted, the wiring and plumbing had also been whisked away.

Back on December 26th, they brought the back hoe in and we watched them drive it to the back of the house and park it.  I know the guys that brought this in were obviously professionals, but MAN!  It was awesome to watch them do their job!  It was a two man crew.  The first guy off of the truck did a walk through down the driveway.  He held his arms out like mentally measuring the space.  The back hoe had to be driving down the driveway that was a little less wide than the back hoe, and the turn at the top of the driveway was between a fence on the left, a garage straight ahead and the house on the right.  The first guy had a conference with the second guy and the second guy drove it in nice and slow.  Second guy made a lot of small moves but it was a beautiful thing to watch.  He had to raise the boom up all of the way to make that turn, but he got that puppy behind the house and snuggled in until demolition day.  That was today.

Thanks to my brother Phil, who happened to come home as they started the tear down on this house, I have picture goodness to go along with this blog.  Thanks, Phil!!

If you look at the front left corner of the house, this corner has been crumbling.  The damage you see wasn't from the tear down of the house.  If you follow that basement wall towards the back of the house, that wall had caved in well over a year ago leaving an opening into the house.  I've watched Hemingway go in and out of that wall a few times.  When I heard that the house was coming down, I was having a bit of a panic attack at work worrying about Hemingway.  I haven't seen him in a few days and I was assuming the worst.  Luckily, he came by for dinner tonight.  He was looking a little ragged, but he is still doing ok.  He's not ready to come into my house yet, but after this, I may have to up my efforts to get him to change his mind!

The front screen door is in place, but the inside door had been stolen a long time ago.  You see that note pasted on the door?  That's a note telling the homeowner (whoever that is) that the grass is too long and if it's not corrected, they will be receiving a fine.  Hmm.  That sign has been on there for at least six months and the grass there has been kept up MUCH better than some of the houses in the neighborhood that ARE occupied.  Go figure.  Another good indicator that the City of Lorain does NOT own this house.

Take a look at these pics.  Phil really did a good job getting the work in progress.  This house came down fast!  This series of photos took up a seven minute span!  Unbelievable!

These shots are my favorites.  This first one here with the claw in the second story I love!

And just like that, poof it was gone.

I know this needed done, just from the damage I could see to the house.  It's just sad watching this neighborhood fall down one house at a time. It's hard to love or support a city as you watch it being torn down around you.