- Video shows reaction of local resident to City of Jackson plans to use State funding to clean up site of recent industrial fire.
- City Public Information Officer Aaron Dimick explains how funds were obtained and how they will be used.
- City of Jackson trying to ensure eyesore does not become long-term problem.
The City of Jackson will receive $3 million in state funding to clean up the site of last summer's big industrial fire on North Street. Now, neighbors are hopeful the City will act quickly to remove the eyesore.
The fire that consumed the historic Sparton factory building in August of last year reduced much of it to a tangle of warped girders and debris.
Fred Calvert, whose home sits just a stone's throw from the old factory, is hopeful the City will now act quickly to remove what is not just an eyesore, but a neighborhood safety issue as well.
"If they get the money in their hands, hopefully they'll do the right thing and get rid of it because it's really, you know, it's unsafe. Like I said, you've still got homeless people going over there, rummaging through the stuff to see what they can get."
Aaron Dimick, the City's Public Information Officer, is keen to emphasize how quickly the City has moved to solve what can become a long-term problem.
“Because this is such a big danger to the community, has such a big negative impact on the community, we wanted to see what we could do to mitigate it as soon as possible.”
The $3 million grant from the State’s Land Bank Authority’s Blight Elimination Program is the maximum that can be requested, according to Dimick, and comes as a result of the City and County working together to apply for it. Whether the current owners of the building—Commercial Exchange, Incorporated, according to County records—would be contributing to the clean-up Dimick was unable to say.
The City’s Public Information Officer tells Fox 47 News the $3 million grant will suffice only to remove the fire-damaged parts of the building.
“We don’t have enough money beyond that $3 million right now to take care of the entire building. We want to focus really on the epicenter of the fire and take away that damage.”
Whatever the City is able to do, Calvert is looking forward to the improvement.
“I live—what?—half a block away from it, as you can see, so, yeah, and I gotta look at that, so...it’s not nice. I’m sure that, you know, they’re trying to do their best if they do get the money in their hands so hopefully they’ll do the right thing and get it done.”
