EAST CHICAGO | Three local firms have won approval to tear down several collapsing buildings, with another 28 structures scheduled for demolition by the end of the year.
The Board of Public Works accepted a bid of $25,679 from East Chicago firm D&R Site Services to take down buildings at 3908 Grace St., 4802 Tod Ave., and a garage at 4728 Baring Ave.
Bids of $29,975 from Actin Inc., of East Chicago, to demolish a former store at 4841 Alexander Ave., and $9,800 from Hammond firm JM Industrial Services to demolish a former home at 4025 Elm St., were also approved by the works board.
Actin was the sole bidder to tear down a structure at 602 W. 144th St., said Building Commissioner Winna Guzman, and the firm's offer of $14,720 for the job was taken under review.
Notices also were sent to owners of another 28 properties on the city's South Side and Carey-Drummond areas that their properties had been condemned as unsafe and would be razed.
Owners were given until November to make arrangements for the demolitions. After that, the city will handle the details and pursue collecting the cost from the owners, Guzman said.
Bids were opened Friday for demolishing another 25 properties in the North Harbor area owned by the East Chicago Redevelopment Commission.
Some 100 buildings — entire blocks of Broadway, and long stretches of Main and Guthrie streets — are scheduled to be cleared to make room for planned new single-family homes.
Part of a citywide homeownership initiative, the new houses will be built using a mix of federal, state and local funding and then sold to private individuals.
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