DATE: Friday, November 21, 1997             TAG: 9711210673

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LIZ SZABO, STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   67 lines

SOUTH NORFOLK MAKES INROADS INTO BLIGHT

It took only a few hours Wednesday to demolish a dilapidated house on 18th Street in South Norfolk. But it was a moment that represented years of work.

The house was the latest neglected building to be torn down as part of South Norfolk's Neighborhood Preservation Program, which is designed to combat urban blight, said John King, environmental coordinator for the Department of Inspections.

Seventeen buildings have been torn down in the past year. The city hired crews to remove 12 of the structures; property owners demolished five.

``They've torn down more houses in the last year than ever before,'' said Anne Tregembo, president of the South Norfolk Revitalization Commission.

``It looks a lot better than it did with the old buildings with windows knocked out, windows in deplorable condition, all kinds of illegal activities going on,'' Tregembo said. ``When owners do not keep up their buildings, it makes the whole community look bad.''

Chesapeake has conducted more than 2,500 inspections since the program began in the summer of 1996, King said.

City officials give property owners the choice of correcting problems or demolishing the building. Many, like the owner of the house on 18th Street, find it cheaper to raze the buildings than repair the rotted wood, broken floorboards and old paint. Still, Chesapeake takes three to five property owners to court each month to force them to comply, King said.

The inspections department stepped up code enforcement after South Norfolk residents asked for help fighting decay, King said.

And they're just getting started.

Community leaders would like to demolish 50 neglected buildings, said Gene Waters, president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations. His group began developing the Neighborhood Preservation Program two years ago. The council also helps home owners repair houses.

``We think there's more of a movement now than there's ever been in the past,'' Waters said. ``It takes a long time.''

Every demolished house makes the neighborhood safer, according to South Norfolk community police.

A house torn down last month at B and 22nd Streets was being inhabited by drug dealers, said Chesapeake Police First Sgt. Gary McClenney.

``It was a haven for people who wanted to use drugs,'' McClenney said.

Such houses, which are usually filled with rats and roaches, are often health hazards, he said.

``In almost every situation (of abandoned homes), we've seen that it's used for alcohol, for marijuana. We've found needles and drug residue,'' McClenney said. ``It's a place for those who don't have a place to stay to spend the night. Sometimes they're wanted and running from the law. It's a place for sex offenders to commit their crimes.''

Property crimes such as car thefts and petty larcenies usually decrease after a demolition, McClenney said.

Of all the neglected buildings in South Norfolk, residents complain often most loudly about The Big Pig, named for the last supermarket to occupy the store on Poindexter Street. The Big Pig, owned by the Sea Fin Holding Co., has been boarded up and leased for storage since 1989.

Chesapeake would like to tear down the building, but does not have the money, King said. So the city ``is in the notification process'' of contacting the parties about the demolition, trying to persuade one of the parties to demolish it. King expects the case will probably end up in court before the structure is razed. ILLUSTRATION: MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

Of all the neglected buildings in South Norfolk, residents complain

most loudly about The Big Pig, named for the last supermarket to

occupy the store on Poindexter Street.

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