City of Kinston has preliminary list of 30 houses slated for demolition

When Richard and Pamela Ivey moved to the 400 block of East Lenoir Avenue in early 2012, they were looking for a quiet block to live on.

While they have found a block safe enough to have their grandchildren visit, there are certain areas Pamela Ivey said she will not let the children go — two of her grandsons were with her and her husband Sunday afternoon, playing in their front yard.

“They don't go that way,” she said, pointing to her left at the houses at 403 and 405 E. Lenoir. “I keep them this way, close to the house.”

The houses near the Iveys show signs of disrepair, including boarded-up windows, peeling paint, rusted metal roofs and, 405 E. Lenoir, a porch roof that has fallen, possibly a casualty of 2011’s Hurricane Irene, according to residents.

“It makes the area look bad, really, and then it could be a hazard for the kids and people might go up in there and start a fire, cause trouble for other people,” Richard Ivey said.

The East Lenoir houses are two of 30 dwellings in the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor which Kinston officials have put on a preliminary list of structures slated to be torn down.

The city will use a $100,000 Community Development Block Grant it received through the N.C. Catalyst program last fall to fund the demolitions.

Interim Planning Director Adam Short and City Manager Tony Sears told members of the City Council recently that the list is preliminary, and they would be working with city staffers and property owners in the coming months to conduct environmental reviews and slim the list down to about 10 to 15 homes.

The area affected is bordered by East Vernon Avenue on the north, Quinerly and South McDaniels streets on the east, East King Street at the south and North East Street at the west.

Ten of the homes of the list have been designated as “priority” structures because of their proximity to MLK.

Others have been designated as alternates, and Short told the council if the owner of a priority home objects, an alternate home can be put in its place.

Two of the priority homes, in the 600 block of East Gordon Street, are considered historic properties.

A grand, three-story house with a columned porch at 607 E. Gordon showed signs it had once been used as a legal office of Dr. Joseph Askew, JD, who provided real estate, tax, notary and insurance services.

“I've been here five years and this place is sill looking the same, not changed one bit at all,” said neighborhood resident Rodney Jones.

Jones, who lives near Southeast Park along MLK, was visiting his cousin Sunday who lived across from the historic homes.

He said he returned to Kinston about five years ago after living in Raleigh and Greenville.

“It would be nice if they take some of these old houses down and build some new ones,” he said.

Jones, 32, grew up in the neighborhood and said it had been a nice place to live at one time.

“It would make the neighborhood look a lot better if they tear these houses down,” he said.

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or David.Anderson@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at DavidFreePress.