THE PARK MEMORIAL CONDO WILDLIFE REFUGE A participant reports on a local running group’s visit last week to a thriving wilderness area off Memorial Dr. — otherwise known as the campus of the Park Memorial Condos: “We ran around the Rice Military area heading south, then ran into the parking garage under Park Memorial, winding our way into the courtyard gate and the path that leads to the swimming pool. [We] had a “beer check” (kind of like a water stop, but, you know, with beer) right by the mosquito-infested pool. This was about 8:30 p.m. and it was pitch dark (the moon hadn’t yet risen). It was creepy and also awesome. I was really surprised by how easy it was to get in there. We just walked right through the gate, then walked right back out. Several of the apartments’ doors were wide open too. It was rather spooky. I expected to see homeless squatting there but we never encountered anyone . . . . It was pretty cool to finally see what the inside of the complex looked like, but sad to see the state of disrepair they’re under.” [Swamplot inbox; previously]
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Tag: Abandoned Properties
TRACKING GALVESTON’S THOUSAND-PLUS ABANDONED HOMES City planning department officials have counted 1,078 homes in Galveston that are boarded up, look vacant and have unmaintained yards. Another 229 are boarded up but show some signs of maintenance. The city plans to use the data gathered from the drive-by survey to prepare for a code-enforcement blitz. “City staff blamed the abandoned homes on three factors: the high rate of absentee landlords and homeowners in Galveston; and the double whammy of Hurricane Ike, which flooded three-quarters of the island and damaged many houses that lacked insurance, combined with a national recession that forced many homeowners into foreclosure. Of the houses city staff identified as being potentially abandoned, 760, or more than two-thirds, are east of 61st Street and many of those are in neighborhoods north of Broadway, particularly in the Lasker Park area, according to the city’s survey, which is still in draft form.” [Galveston County Daily News]