City Revisits Northside Village
Sammie Shropshire

 
Greg S. Williams � May 13, 2014
Ward 3 councilman Sammie Shropshire asked for and received an update last week on the status of Northside Village, the long-idle Railroad Street redevelopment project started here seven years ago.

The project involved the demolition of a number of substandard housing units and their replacement with modern Craftsman-style homes. It was to have been funded largely with grant monies and ultimately involve the permanent closure of the section of Railroad Street between Jackson and Ice Streets to vehicular traffic.

Prophetically, in an October, 2007 discussion, former member Annie Harris questioned the logic of the proposed development: �Would you buy a house going down into there in the present condition of how it looks now? I know everybody doesn�t get over there and may not have seen it.�

�I firmly believe that the houses are going to sell even before they�re constructed,� Ward 1 member Anne Claxton countered at the same meeting. �I�ve got a hundred percent of my confidence behind this project.�

Unfortunately, to date only two structures have been completed.

Audio of last week's update appears below.


 
 
 


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