LaVilla Shotgun Houses On Verge Of Being Demolished?

[Cheshire Cat]

Here is the video my eldest son Justin made for me in support of Brewster, LaVilla and the shotgun houses.  This was back when the city had a big ole story on it's website talking about a "River City Renaissance" with an "Emerald Necklace" which was to be a series of parks in the area connecting the Ritz and historic structures touting the area as the "Harlem of the South".  It featured pictures of tourists in horse drawn buggies with a historic, well landscaped community.  This is what was promised when the area was ruthlessly destroyed.  The other thing that I will never get over was digging out the actual documents of the homes that were designated as "blighted".  The public was told that almost all the structures in the community were unsound.  It turned out that the number of those called unsound were not even a third of the existing structures.

Ennis, maybe you will embed the video?  Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24Gix5dDCU

[Cheshire Cat]

Last year the Brewster was officially designated with a large plaque out front.  Below you will see "The Mayor Presents!" lol He lauded the importance of this historic structure and the great value in preserving what remains of LaVilla.  Interestingly he never mentioned my name once and it was only the refusal of the Brewster Alumni Nurses to attend the event that forced an invite for me on that day.  After the presentation I approached a very nervous Mayor Brown and thanked him for the flowery words about the preservation of the building and LaVilla and told him I expected him to do more to save what remained.  He then told me "He would do everything within his power to see Brewster finished and opened and action be taken to save the other structures".  I am still waiting to see what "everything" means to this man.  So far, not much when it comes to the Harlem of the South nor when it comes to this community which is integral to who and what Jacksonville was and is.  (pardon the vent here folks, but I sometimes wonder just how well Alvin Brown reps "all" of Jacksonville.  I know the folks in District 9 do.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTatxQE0i4s

[thelakelander]

Of course. It's kind of funny that we can draw an imaginary circle around a certain area of town and say that ALL the structures are unsalvageable. Here's some more LaVilla demo images.

[Cheshire Cat]

I have several pics you haven't seen of the "derelict" structures Ennis which were in essence beautiful and grand structures in need of nothing much more than life returning to them.  The structures were sound in and out.  This thread has opened up a lot of emotion in me as what happened in La Villa demonstrated then and now the value of a community based upon the "race" of those who gave it birth and the lies that officials and politicians will tell in order to meet private agendas.  One of the saddest parts of the story for me back then was finding out that certain Black officials and people of influence were themselves a party to the destruction and worked hand and hand with both White and Black developers to get them downtown land and properties very, very cheaply.  I spent month's walking through LaVilla and visiting every remaining home, business and commercial entity in the community to see what they had been promised and found out the depth of this deception.  Alvin Brown needs to step up and make sure these buildings are saved.  Does he care?  If it impacts his politics he does, but remember he is not from Jacksonville but rather from Buford, S.C..  He has no real history here, just personal/political interests.

[peestandingup]

I have several pics you haven't seen of the "derelict" structures Ennis which were in essence beautiful and grand structures in need of nothing much more than life returning to them.  The structures were sound in and out.  This thread has opened up a lot of emotion in me as what happened in La Villa demonstrated then and now the value of a community based upon the "race" of those who gave it birth and the lies that officials and politicians will tell in order to meet private agendas.  One of the saddest parts of the story for me back then was finding out that certain Black officials and people of influence were themselves a party to the destruction and worked hand and hand with both White and Black developers to get them downtown land and properties very, very cheaply.  I spent month's walking through LaVilla and visiting every remaining home, business and commercial entity in the community to see what they had been promised and found out the depth of this deception.  Alvin Brown needs to step up and make sure these buildings are saved.  Does he care?  If it impacts his politics he does, but remember he is not from Jacksonville but rather from Buford, S.C..  He has no real history here, just personal/political interests.

Brown doesn't care, that much is obvious. Just another good ol boy puppet of the special interest groups that's plagued this city for decades. And the results are always the same. They're like locusts in many ways. Come in & squeeze every drop out of the city you can, decimate it beyond repair leaving it a shell of its former self with an outward growth model that causes budget & infrastructure issues down the line, then move on to the next one.

If they would have just left these neighborhoods alone then downtown would be in a hell of a lot better shape than it is today. But that's of course not their concern.

[Cheshire Cat]

I have several pics you haven't seen of the "derelict" structures Ennis which were in essence beautiful and grand structures in need of nothing much more than life returning to them.  The structures were sound in and out.  This thread has opened up a lot of emotion in me as what happened in La Villa demonstrated then and now the value of a community based upon the "race" of those who gave it birth and the lies that officials and politicians will tell in order to meet private agendas.  One of the saddest parts of the story for me back then was finding out that certain Black officials and people of influence were themselves a party to the destruction and worked hand and hand with both White and Black developers to get them downtown land and properties very, very cheaply.  I spent month's walking through LaVilla and visiting every remaining home, business and commercial entity in the community to see what they had been promised and found out the depth of this deception.  Alvin Brown needs to step up and make sure these buildings are saved.  Does he care?  If it impacts his politics he does, but remember he is not from Jacksonville but rather from Buford, S.C..  He has no real history here, just personal/political interests.

Brown doesn't care, that much is obvious. Just another good ol boy puppet of the special interest groups that's plagued this city for decades. And the results are always the same. They're like locusts in many ways. Come in & squeeze every drop out of the city you can, decimate it beyond repair leaving it a shell of its former self with an outward growth model that causes budget & infrastructure issues down the line, then move on to the next one.

If they would have just left these neighborhoods alone then downtown would be in a hell of a lot better shape than it is today. But that's of course not their concern.

You hit that nail on the head but good!  I only hope that over time and by giving real examples, interested voters may take greater heed of things that are said and done by those wanting political office and the who and what is the agenda of the person vying for office.  It's one thing to talk a good game while running for office and another thing entirely to faithfully serve for the majority as opposed to a specific group who is seen as important via what they can give or do for a particular politician. 

LaVilla has been in need of critical care for years and years now.  I know many who love the history there had hoped that Brown would step up to preserve the relics of this important district.  That simply has not happened and many folks are very unhappy about that.  I mean seriously, out of hundreds and hundreds of these simple homes, three are left and those had to be transported in order to save them?  It is truly a sorry statement about our city and it's leadership.  Brown meanwhile, in spite of his claims to do everything in his power has done "nothing".  Perhaps the real "get" here is the dawning reality that either he has no real power to make the area better or he lacks the desire and political will to move to restore.  The question is why?   The same can be asked of Warren Jones whose district this was when much of the devastation happened to begin with and who is again the person representing LaVilla today. 

[sheclown]

very very sad

[sheclown]

Here is the video my eldest son Justin made for me in support of Brewster, LaVilla and the shotgun houses.  This was back when the city had a big ole story on it's website talking about a "River City Renaissance" with an "Emerald Necklace" which was to be a series of parks in the area connecting the Ritz and historic structures touting the area as the "Harlem of the South".  It featured pictures of tourists in horse drawn buggies with a historic, well landscaped community.  This is what was promised when the area was ruthlessly destroyed.  The other thing that I will never get over was digging out the actual documents of the homes that were designated as "blighted".  The public was told that almost all the structures in the community were unsound.  It turned out that the number of those called unsound were not even a third of the existing structures.

Ennis, maybe you will embed the video?  Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T24Gix5dDCU

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/T24Gix5dDCU?hl=en_US&amp;amp;version=3&amp;amp;rel=0" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/T24Gix5dDCU?hl=en_US&amp;amp;version=3&amp;amp;rel=0</a>

[sheclown]

Last year the Brewster was officially designated with a large plaque out front.  Below you will see "The Mayor Presents!" lol He lauded the importance of this historic structure and the great value in preserving what remains of LaVilla.  Interestingly he never mentioned my name once and it was only the refusal of the Brewster Alumni Nurses to attend the event that forced an invite for me on that day.  After the presentation I approached a very nervous Mayor Brown and thanked him for the flowery words about the preservation of the building and LaVilla and told him I expected him to do more to save what remained.  He then told me "He would do everything within his power to see Brewster finished and opened and action be taken to save the other structures".  I am still waiting to see what "everything" means to this man.  So far, not much when it comes to the Harlem of the South nor when it comes to this community which is integral to who and what Jacksonville was and is.  (pardon the vent here folks, but I sometimes wonder just how well Alvin Brown reps "all" of Jacksonville.  I know the folks in District 9 do.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTatxQE0i4s

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dTatxQE0i4s?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0&quot;" target="_blank" class="new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/dTatxQE0i4s?version=3&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0&quot;</a>

[HangingMoth]

I posted before with some criticism, but I have to weigh in on this. Lavilla is a black eye on the face of Jacksonville, and IMO the whole block that now consists of the three refugee shotgun houses and Genover's hall should be dedicated to a museum and memorial to the now extinct neighborhood of Lavilla. An emphasis should be given to how the dangers of thoughtless demolitions and destruction can ruin the entire fabric of a city for generations. Jacksonville is a wonderful city, however, a great city would take responsibility for its careless actions, own it, and put it on display for others to learn from. Preservation of these houses should be mandatory, telling the true history through education and memorial would be honorable.

[vicupstate]

The Shotgun Houses to which these folks are referring were actually put up with Federal grants dating back to the 1880s when a house with a sanitary privy out back was considered adequate housing, A lot of it was on the back side of Brooklyn and all the way to the east side of the old Ritz Theatre. By the 1980' they were just not maintainable. Off of Riverside , there is one that has been rebuilt and maintained. For what reason would they be preserved, and who would want to live in them It sounds great to preserve, but with preservation comes maintenance and vandalism. The city cannot maintain what it owns now, how can they add more? Best to do a photo essay and location map of where they were and put that in the vaults of the Historical Society and the library.

I used to live in a restored shotgun house in Columbia SC.  It was the middle unit of three shotgun homes.  The prior owner had done the renovations, adding a room on the back and enclosing the side porch.  It was 1,200 SF and it was beautifully done. 

There are pictures of it somewhere on this forum, but that was probably in 2006 or earlier.  I wouldn't know where to begin to locate it.  The pictures are on my old computer HD, which isn't easily accessable to me right now.   

Maybe on my next trip through Columbia I can snap some new ones. 

There were other shotguns in my same block, all but one had been restored, and was owner-occupied.  They all sold quickly whenever they hit the market. The one I bought had four contracts after 2 days on the market, and it was priced at the top of the market. Needless to say, I paid the full list price.

[vicupstate]

Can someone embedd this?  This is a MUST SEE for anyone viewing this thread.

Ironically, one of the houses shown  in the video is on LEE STREET' but in a different city than the one the three LaVilla houses originally were built on.   

Same situation, different city.  One city 'lives' its history, and the other 'destroys' it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MGYGG8TVEEg

So far 12 of the Freedmen's cottages have been saved.   

[Jumpinjack]

^  Wow, what great goals - stabilize the downtown neighborhoods, protect the communities and families, and provide affordable housing in downtown.  Luckily Charleston still has these historic homes to salvage.

[Garden guy]

Thats a nice video...beautiful homes i think...too bad this city has been erasing any history thats includes poor black people...these actions are obviously a racist act by he historically racist city leadership. Nothing has changed....they can always find funds for all kinds of bullshit but to save something like this...

[sheclown]

We need a Make It Happen, Springfield-style.