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Demolishing Structurally Sound Buildings - Just for the HELL of it - Destroying History for a Library Parking LotSubmitted by Gone Fishin on Thu, 07/04/2013 - 20:40.
3555 Fulton Road, Cleveland, Ohio
BEFORE Councilman Cummins quit riding the fence and joined the rest of the gang:
 And AFTER Councilman Cummins quit fence riding, jumped the fence, and joined all the other pitiful elected officials in this area:
 The city is wasting money destroying a structurally sound building that was neglected for many years by the prior owners who should be in jail - Brian and Paul Stark of Stark Group LLC.
The politically connected Brian and Paul Stark failed to pay property taxes for TEN YEARS before the county finally decided to step up to the plate and file a delinquent property tax foreclosure.
Stark Group LLC owed $35,608.34 in delinquent property taxes for the property located at 3555 Fulton Road.
The neglectful Brian and Paul Stark host the radio show Stark Group LIVE - advising others on the ins and outs of real estate - despite the Stark brothers and their family members
ripping off Cuyahoga County for hundreds of thousands of dollars in demolition fees, court fines, and property taxes.
The Stark Group also ripped off their mortgage companies.
Brian Stark neglected this building which, according to Christopher Busta-Peck, MLIS, was built in 1925. http://www.clevelandareahistory.com/
Brian Stark ( Who allowed this really cool old building to be neglected for 10 years) - believe it or not - is a trustee for Cleveland Restoration Society. http://www.clevelandrestoration.org/about/board_members.php
MORE on the Stark Group of Con Artists here http://realneo.us/content/brian-stark-stark-group-real-estate-radio-show-does-not-pay-property-taxes-gus-frangos-appea
A new owner - Larry Underwood - recently purchased the property via a state foreclosure auction. The new owner had good intentions and the financial ability to make the necessary repairs for this cool old building, but he was not afforded an opportunity to make the repairs. Recently, Mr. Underwood spent several hours wasting his time getting the run-around from the City of Cleveland's Demolition and Building & Housing Departments. Both city departments were giving the new owner a hard time over drawings, specs and other typical run-around BS from the city. Mr. Underwood found at the Demolition Department that the "green card" for the certified or registered mail had never come back to them, which means nobody can prove they notified the owner. Despite the city not being able to locate Mr. Underwood, the new owner was easily located within 2 hours. The new owner was receptive to neighborhood concerns, immediately met with those that were concerned, and he even allowed others to tour the building with his contractors. The conctractors and others that toured the building all agreed the building was structurally sound; however repairs were necessary due to the Stark Group neglecting the property for ten years. Although Councilman Cummins insisted that the building was in poor condition and required immediate demolition, the condition of the structurally sound property was not in such poor condition that required immediate demolition- especially when the property was just recently purchased, the city failed to work with the new owner, and the city failed to contact the new owner regarding the upcoming demolition. The demolition contractor complained that he has already started the remediation process because he dumped dirt in piles in the vacant lot next to the property. The demolition contract was allegedly awarded June 21st. According to neighbors of this property, Councilman Cummins said, " This building is coming down. I have the money." And on July 3rd, the vicious demolition process began. BELOW are pictures of the building which prove it was a structurally sound - solid brick building:
Despite the new owner with the financial means and desire to repair HIS property, the City and Councilman Cummins decide to NOT work with the owner and not notify the owner - prior to destroying the new owner's property:  This new owner of this really cool old building that was STRUCTURALLY SOUND had two problems. The library located right next to the property has a very small parking lot. Way too small.
And Councilman Cummins wanted to help the library with the parking issues.
Below is a picture taken in the library's parking lot - notice the old building in the background:
Cuyahoga County is well known for demolishing property that is not worthy of demolition - destroying our history. Many residents in Cuyahoga County have complained about the demolition issue and destruction of perfectly sound properties. Many constituents of Councilman Cummins are not pleased with Cummins. Actually, they are quite angry with Cummins. Is Cummins going to personally pay for the demolition cost and damage to the new owner's property since the new owner was not properly notified? Or will the City or County waste all the federal demolition funds to pay for the damage to the owner AND the community? The City and County are too damn excited to waste the MILLIONS of Federal Dollars for demoltion- designed to remove blight and NOT perfectly sound buildings. They want to demolish everything in sight.
Apparently, the traveling demolition con artists made themselves available for Cummins:
And Robert Klein of Safeguard Properties has traveled the country on a 'demolition crusade':
Fernbacher’s company GSPS is a contractor for several property preservation firms. All they do is tear down homes. They are the last resort for many communities all over the country overrun with blight.
One of Fernbacher’s clients is Safeguard Properties, the Ohio-based property preservation firm. Its founder Robert Klein is taking Fernbacher around the country this year from conference to conference on a demolition crusade, to convince cities to pursue the clean slate their hardest hit communities crave.
Their first opportunity is a quiet place left even more silent after the housing downturn. In Slavic Village, a community located in Cleveland, Ohio, home prices plummeted from nearly $150,000 during the housing boom to roughly $39,000 today, according to data from Altos Research.
Safeguard and GSPS will start a pilot program this year to demolish 2,200 Slavic Village homes that are considered beyond saving. But it isn’t as simple as that.
Barbara Anderson was one of the first black homebuyers in Slavic Village. According to her Senate testimony in 2007, a broker approached her with a refinancing proposal and approved her for a loan at 8.5% through the now-defunct Conti Mortgage. Within four years, the rate jumped to 14.5%, pushing her monthly payment higher by nearly 60%. Her loan was sold 15 times over that time. Today, the result is apparent. Slavic Village is a ghost town.
Klein with community leaders and the local city council president in February with their solution.
Safeguard placed all Slavic Village properties into three categories. Owner-occupied homes fall into the first category, homes in need of rehabilitation but vacant are the second category, and the third category consists of ones that need to come down.
Most of the properties sit in either of the first two categories, but any progress waits on tearing down the ones in category three.
“No developer will come in when you have five occupied properties, five vacant properties and one that needs to be demolished. Those five properties are affordable, and can be rehabbed fairly cheaply. But nobody will come in until you’ve demolished that one property,” Klein said. “What we’re doing now is we’re putting together a model to make this thing work in Slavic Village. If it works in Slavic Village, we can do this anywhere in the country.”
Read more on the traveling con artist SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES who is long overdue for a nice long chit chat with the FBI here http://realneo.us/content/fbi-raids-indiana-city-county-buildings-county-land-bank-scandal-next-stop-cuyahoga-county
However, property that deserves to be demolished fails to even by cited for a simple housing code violation. Such as the property owned Gus Frangos' shell LLCs. Gus Frangos is the PRESIDENT of the Cuyahoga County Land Bank. Doors and windows wide open - slum properties that have blighted an ENTIRE neighborhood and should have been demolished years ago get a free pass.
The county can't waste precious demolition dollars on this: ????????????????? Cuyahoga County Land Bank - President GUS FRANGOS Adds FUEL to the FORECLOSURE CRISIS and DESTROYS ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD
It would be in the best interests of the individual owner to be left alone to work with his property. Government employees should not be using government money to work against individual property rights and entrepreneurship. Another property DESTROYED for a damn parking lot. Thanks Councilman Cummins!
** My blogs expressing my freedom of speech rights - especially on matters of public concern- are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer **
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Assembly-line Demolitions
"We are losing many houses not because they are eyesores, but because these public entities have designed an assembly-line demolition system focused on removal rather than restoration."
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/07/how_best_to_save_a_neighborhoo_1.html#incart_river_default
A " Demolition Crusade". Lots of money to be made.
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
This is, of course, ridiculous.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/07/how_best_to_save_a_neighborhoo.html#incart_river_default
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
STOP the Demolitions!
The Indy County Land Bank was raided by the FBI in May 2013 due to nearly the exact same issues as the Cuyahoga County Land Bank - giving away taxpayer's property. http://realneo.us/content/fbi-raids-indiana-city-county-buildings-county-land-bank-scandal-next-stop-cuyahoga-county
Indy County also has the exact same issues as Cuyahoga County relative to demolishing everything in sight. https://www.facebook.com/StoptheDemolitionsIndianapolis
The scam artists running county land banks are obviously working with the traveling demolition crusade.
The traveling demolition crusade - SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES- is scheduled to receive 50 properties from the county land bank, with the possibility of 100's more. http://realneo.us/content/safeguard-properties-forest-city-slavic-village-recovery-llc-first-house-donated-county-land
This same "give-a-way" was a federal offense for the Indy County Land Bank.
The mass demolitions are a multi-billion dollar scam across the country. Demolish everything in sight- whether it is necessary or not. Everything must be destroyed for profit.
Which incompetent official is allowing Con Artist Safeguard Properties to make demolition decisions in Cuyahoga County? Who is promoting all of this demolition and for what financial purpose, ie.. bribe, percentage of profit, etc..?
Why is the Cuyahoga County Land Bank giving away taxpayer's property to Safeguard Properties and Forest City Enterprises?
Who made Safeguard Properties in charge of Cuyahoga County taxpayer's property? Why is Safeguard Properties taking over Slavic Village?
Read more on Scam Artist SAFEGUARD PROPERTIES here http://realneo.us/content/safeguard-properties-forest-city-slavic-village-recovery-llc-first-house-donated-county-land
" Safeguard and GSPS will start a pilot program this year to demolish 2,200 Slavic Village homes that are considered beyond saving. "
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
History & Photo 3555 Fulton - courtesy of Craig Bobby
One of the most knowledgeable and highly respected Historians in our area - CRAIG BOBBY - shares an old photo and some history relative to 3555 & 3557 Fulton Road - which was demolished for a parking lot.
I was introduced to Craig Bobby by Judge Ray Pianka several years ago when I inquired about the history of Frank Giglio's property on West 14th Street in Tremont.
If Craig Bobby does not know the history of a building / house, he is willing to research and offer his expertise.
Everything Craig Bobby does as an architectural researcher is totally dependent on finding primary documents that establish the facts, such as building permit applications.
I respect Craig Bobby and appreciate the sharing of information.
Most of all, I appreciate Craig Bobby's passion for old historical property - architectual gems.
It is a shame that incompetent officials insist on demolishing cool old buildings in which the architecture can NEVER be duplicated.
Various and sundry municipalities within our county, mostly in Cleveland and East Cleveland, are the culprits destroying our landmarks to profit the demolition crusade.
The traveling demolition crusade is demolishing historical buildings and houses on a national level, and at some point we will be left with cardboard houses and cinder block buildings with no architecutural value whatsoever.
Many folks - including myself - appreciate the beauty of these old buildings and we are very upset about demolishing structurally sound buildings- for no valid cause.
Photos courtesy of CRAIG BOBBY
History information relative to 3555 & 3557 Fulton Road, also courtesy of CRAIG BOBBY:
The building was built in 1926-27 for a widow named Julia Hruska.
The building was a simple, architecturally conservative building, but the finished sandstone entrance to the stairway, with the arch and inwardly curving opening, added a touch of refinement.
The stepped-back storefronts, with their coved tops that seem to mimic the entranceway arch, were a classy addition, as well.
A bar that occupied the northernmost storefront at that time borrowed the "Lyceum" in its name from the structure that had been immediately to the north of this one (part of which is visible in this image) which had primarily been a movie-theater named the Lyceum.
Large sections of the Application for a Building Permit were not even filled out -- including the parts that asked for the architect (if there was one) and the contractor (which there had to be one).
By the way, in total reality, because of the two distinct businesses utilizing the ground floor, this building did not just have the 3555 number but also had 3557.
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*** THANK YOU CRAIG BOBBY FOR SHARING INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THIS PROPERTY.***
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The photographer was too close when the above photo was taken in the 1960's, so it did not include the top part of the building architect- which can be viewed below:
It is a shame that Stark Group of Con Artists allowed this building to be neglected for 10 years - while also NOT paying property taxes for TEN YEARS.
It is also a shame that Councilman Brian Cummins insisted on demolishing our history for a parking lot.
Please use the demolition dollars as they were intended - to demolish blighted property that is beyond repair.
STOP demolishing structurally sound buildings - with cool architecture that can NEVER be replaced- for the sole purpose of profiting the 'demolition crusade':
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Demolition Crusade
How a Community Demolished Its Way Out of a Crisis
** The zip code for Slavic Village area is mostly 44127- NOT 44105. The stats used for the ' damaging statistics" in Slavic Village is certainly not a "perfect match'. **
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Slavic Village Development PAYS this owner $2,000 for the property and then uses federal demolition money to demolish the property?
In another stretch of East 72nd, another owner took drastic steps to avoid those headaches. Mike Malak, a retired city water department worker, sat quietly in a neighbor’s yard as he watched a demolition crew tear down the house that had been his home for most of his 60 years. When his mother died two years ago, Malak tried to sell the 92-year-old house, hoping to get $10,000. But he quickly learned its value was almost non-existent. In desperation, he contacted “webuyhouses.com.” But there was no deal and he ended up taking $2,000 from the Slavic Village Development Corp., fully aware they would demolish it. When that day arrived, he got to the house before the crew and went upstairs to what had been his bedroom. There, he sat for half an hour, silently taking in the view and memories of his boyhood.
But the street had been much different in those days. There were 30 houses, a factory, an ice cream store, and a corner grocery. Today, only 10 of the 30 houses remain and two are boarded up. Everything else had been demolished.
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This is a really good one:
He also saw the devastating impact on his neighbors. He still gets emotional about his dealings with one elderly woman who had lived in the same small house for 80 years with her family operating a butcher shop in the front of the house. But now she was the last member of the family in the house and needed to move out. “That,” said Brancatelli, “was probably the hardest thing I had to do was tell this poor woman that all we were going to do is tear it down.... She just cried.”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/features/restoration-calls/how-a-community-demolished-its-way-out-of-a-crisis-20121210
* My blogs expressing my Freedom of Speech Rights, especially on matters of public concern, are my opinion and not the opinion of my friends, family or employer*
Cummins and public monies $$$$
The latest insult/development proposal from Council Rep Brian Cummins office, his assistant Johanna Hamm who is married to Darren Hamm of NHS, and from the CDC Stockyard Clark Fulton Brooklyn Centre. See above posts- taxpayers demo'd a property w/shady transfer history that still shows ownership by Larry Underwood:
A new owner - Larry Underwood - recently purchased the property via a state foreclosure auction.
The new owner had good intentions and the financial ability to make the necessary repairs for this cool old building, but he was not afforded an opportunity to make the repairs.
Recently, Mr. Underwood spent several hours wasting his time getting the run-around from the City of Cleveland's Demolition and Building & Housing Departments.
Both city departments were giving the new owner a hard time over drawings, specs and other typical run-around BS from the city.
Mr. Underwood found at the Demolition Department that the "green card" for the certified or registered mail had never come back to them, which means nobody can prove they notified the owner.
Despite the city not being able to locate Mr. Underwood, the new owner was easily located within 2 hours.
The new owner was receptive to neighborhood concerns, immediately met with those that were concerned, and he even allowed others to tour the building with his contractors.
The conctractors and others that toured the building all agreed the building was structurally sound; however repairs were necessary due to the Stark Group neglecting the property for ten years.
Although Councilman Cummins insisted that the building was in poor condition and required immediate demolition, the condition of the structurally sound property was not in such poor condition that required immediate demolition- especially when the property was just recently purchased, the city failed to work with the new owner, and the city failed to contact the new owner regarding the upcoming demolition.
The demolition contractor complained that he has already started the remediation process because he dumped dirt in piles in the vacant lot next to the property.
The demolition contract was allegedly awarded June 21st.
According to neighbors of this property, Councilman Cummins said, " This building is coming down. I have the money."
And on July 3rd, the vicious demolition process began.
NOW - Cummins and his minions have proposed that Cleveland Public Library maintain a "reading garden" on the property that he forced into an unneccessary demoliton. How is the money being played on this project? See the attached description and atrocious "rendering" for the public park.
Brian Cummins is proposing this to a library system that does not have the funds to maintain existing buildings owned by the library system and he is also behind the push to have the Library Board SELL the historic Carnegie South Branch so the CDC can play "developer" w/historic tax credits.
From the CDC:
Fulton Branch Library Reading Garden Public Meeting
Wednesday May 21
5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Fulton Branch Library
3545 Fulton Rd
Come join us in a discussion about a new grant award and planning for a new Reading Garden at the Fulton Branch Library