HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-24-10 Demolitions, new facilities to benefit neighborhoodsOffice of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
August 24, 2010
4 p.m.
Demolitions, new facilities to benefit neighborhoods
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
Gregg Zientara, City Controller, 235-9216, Phil St. Clair, Director of South Bend Parks and
Recreation, 299-4765 or Catherine Toppel, Director of Code Enforcement, 235-9486
The two departments with budgets on schedule for review Tuesday by the South Bend
Common Council most prominently intersect when it comes to the mowing of cited
properties, particularly vacant and abandoned houses.
But proposed 2011 budgets for the departments of Code Enforcement and South Bend
Parks and Recreation also share this common trait: Activities and capital projects that will
benefit South Bend neighborhoods.
Proposals for the upcoming year include new equipment to help improve citywide
mowing by the Parks department, especially in support of properties cited by the
Department of Code Enforcement. Although it is not funded in the proposed budget,
South Bend Parks also is appealing for capital allocations to build new baseball field at
Belleville Gardens, open the city’s largest splash pad at Potawatomi Pool and launch a
new annual concert/festival series.
Several initiatives, already in the works during 2010, will come to fruition in 2011. A
new animal shelter for South Bend Animal Care and Control will open in 2011 as will a
new river otter exhibit at Potawatomi Zoo. Plans also are under way for the rehabilitation
of the Ella Morris/Muessel-Ellison Botanical Conservatories at Potawatomi Park and
ongoing renovation to Coveleski Stadium.
Through the end of 2010, the City of South Bend will have demolished more than 500
vacant and abandoned homes – 25 percent more than originally projected when the effort
began in 2007.
“We eliminated the worst of the worst. While lots still remain in the hands of neglectful
owners, at least these structures no longer negatively impact our neighborhoods,” said
Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. “These structures were dangerously deteriorated. They were
not candidates for rehab, but a blight on our neighborhoods and a potential source of
crime.”
Since the Common Council’s adoption of a vacant house registration ordinance, Code
Enforcement staff have registered 166 newly vacant or abandoned houses.
Code Enforcement staff will conduct a new count of vacant and abandoned houses in
South Bend, following up on a previous effort conducted in 2006.
In addition to the demolitions, Code crews through June 30 performed more than 18,000
inspections for housing, zoning, vehicular or other violations. Some 800 animals were
adopted, returned to the owner or sent to rescue operations by South Bend Animal Care
and Control.
While the City’s 2011 General Fund budget is essentially flat when compared with 2010,
the budget for Code Enforcement will increase 2.18 percent to $2,394,280, while South
Bend Parks and Recreation’s budget is essentially flat with a 0.29 percent increase to
$13,951,480 for 2011.
The Council’s budget hearings will continue at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25, with the
Department of Public Works. The Department of Community and Economic
Development, the Building Department and the Morris Performing Arts Center/Palais
Royale are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Aug. 30, with Police and Fire/EMS at 3 p.m. Sept. 1.
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