DETROIT – Two dangerous buildings in Detroit are finally coming down after being left in disrepair for years.
The buildings sit on Vinewood Street, just off Toledo Street on the city’s west side.
“We’re happy about it coming down as this building has been vacant for decades,” said Messiah Covenant Church Pastor Jeff Hunt. “It actually caught on fire once during Sunday morning service. It happened in the mid-1990s, and at that time, they evacuated the church. They did a lot of praying that it didn’t spread onto the church.”
Hunt is relieved to see Detroit demolition taking down what was CF Smith Warehouse.
The vacant building was in such bad shape the city demo department called an emergency demolition.
“It’s an emergency because the building official has deemed it an imminent danger of collapse,” said Director Lajuan Counts, Detroit Construction and Demolition Department.
Another one of Detroit’s most dangerous buildings is biting the dust, but Hunt says more work must be done.
“We’re surrounded by dangerous buildings,” Hunt said.
The city told Local 4 that they plan to demo 364 commercial buildings, which include 52 that are already gone.