INDIANAPOLIS — It has been 10 months since residents on the Indianapolis south side first called WRTV raising concerns about an abandoned and partially collapsed house at 2310 Harlan Street.
"I've lost track, my friends tease me about how much I'm on the news about this. The city hears us they just don't care," said Kattrina Conningham, who lives on the same street and first alerted WRTV to the problem structure.
Used needles were found in front of the home where Conningham's daughter gets on the bus. Now 47 weeks later unwelcome squatters are regularly in the house.
"It's me and my daughter in the morning and it's usually about three to four strange males out here sleeping on the porch," Conningham said.
When we first met Conningham on September 30, 2019, we took her concerns to the Mayor's office which informed us the house had been slated for demolition since 2018, and could actually be demolished by the end of 2019 or the early part of 2020. When that didn't happen Conningham and some of her neighbors continued calling for action, after witnessing people inside the house that is half destroyed from a fire.
"The whole back half is caved in. So just going in there is a hazard. You can see the structure is not sound. People sleep in there when it rains. You can see the boards in the window., they put those up there because the living room area is not burnt they say,' Conningham said.
Earlier this year city officials told WRTV the house was added to a bid-list for demolition projects in the first quarter of 2020, but now in late August the house still stands.
Today the city tells WRTV notice was given to start demolition on the house on July 22, 2020. A contractor is now in the process of disconnecting the utilities and will begin tearing it down in the next two to three weeks, pending any unexpected delays or restrictions.
"I'll believe it when I see it. The city doesn't have to live here. The mayor doesn't have to live here, so it doesn't matter to them. It's not their kid out here at the bus stop in the morning, it's my kid," Conningham said.
The city says you can use the The Citizens Access Portal to research permits and enforcement cases, including cases involving demolitions and repair orders so you can follow along with the lengthy process of demolishing a building. They also tell us the best way to report similar issues, like the neighbors on Harlan street are dealing with, by calling Mayor’s Action Center – 317-327-4622 or using the Request Indy website.
To see properties that are available for purchase in tax sale, you can go here: http://maps.indy.gov/TaxSaleViewer/ [maps.indy.gov].
