Look at what they "created"!
Gimme a break!
Facing demolition, family's California-style dream home saved by city of Muskegon | MLive.com: "But when the city purchased it for $10,000, the house was in such poor shape that several bankers said it should be demolished, Bailey said. The city was determined to save it, saying it was architecturally significant and an important feature of the neighborhood.
The city used federal neighborhood stabilization funds to renovate the house. The funds were part of a $1.4 million grant the city received in 2008 to stabilize neighborhoods in the wake of the nation's foreclosure crisis.
The idea was to purchase and quickly rehab homes -- or else tear them down -- and get them back on the market "so people would want to invest in our communities again," Bailey said. The city purchased, rehabbed and sold 18 homes, she said.
The Leahy Street home ended up being the biggest project by far. The city spent much more on it than expected after the state determined the home was historic, thereby limiting how it could be rehabbed. Windows, for example, couldn't be replaced -- only renovated. They alone cost $40,000. Repairing the masonry on the brick and cement home cost nearly $60,000.
The city sought out Baker College's architecture program for help with design work, which included turning an unfinished area into a half bath. Carpeting and drywall were replaced, wiring and insulation were added, brick walls on the second floor were plastered and the exterior was repaired and painted.
In all, the city invested nearly $220,000 into the home.
"It was unlikely the private sector would have been able to renovate the house like we did," said Muskegon City Manager Frank Peterson...
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