DETROIT – People are happy they will soon no longer have to look at this abandoned La Choy factory on Detroit’s west side, as it’s been a major eyesore for years.
The abandoned factory had become a magnet for illegal dumping as well.
“It’s terrible,” said Wayne Carson. “It makes you feel like where you stay at ain’t really what you want it to be.”
“It wasn’t being used for as long as I’ve been here,” said Lawrei Chandler.
But now, residents near Schoolcraft Road are cheering for the demolition of the factory that’s been abandoned now for decades.
“I’m glad to see it coming down,” Chandler said. “We got the school that’s up the street. So, the babies, you see them coming. They got to walk that to go back and forth to school. So it’s nice to see it come down because you don’t want anything to happen to anyone.”
Knocking down the 100,000-square-foot facility costs about $1.6 million.
“The demolition department is excited to continue to take down yet another structure in our plan to move in our blight to beauty efforts,” said Detroit Demolition Director LaJuan Counts.
The demolition is making way for a new project as it borders the incoming Joe Louis Greenway.
“It’s going to bring so much of an uplift and businesses along with homes being improved,” said Community Partner Sandra Pickens. “The streets. I mean, it’s just going to bring a lot of beautification to our area.”
“That’s exciting to see the different things that are coming to the city and things that I can use,” Chandler said. “It’ll be nice instead of just looking at an abandoned building.”
The building will be completely gone in just a few days, but the city is also working to clean up blight in the area.
