It's a Start - But More Must Be Done

Building Permits and Inspections has met with the Streets Department to board and secure the old McKee home. BPI and Environmental Services was inside the yard earlier this morning. By Noon, some boarding had been done - most noticeably over the entrance into the basement boiler room.

However, even though it is obvious that some insecticide had been applied to the pool water and the open entrance into the basement boiler room has been boarded, the house is still accessible through an unlocked door at the top of a stairway behind the house. The door opens into the kitchen. Also, no barricade has been erected where the back gate is missing. You will recall that the back gate is in the swimming pool.

Also, the pool is uncovered and obviously quite accessible to the small children of the neighborhood who could wander in especially over the upcoming weekend.

So here are some nightmare scenarios that could occur at this still unsecured house of terrors:

A small child wanders in and accidentally falls into the pool. If he manages to surface, the insecticide fumes kill him anyway.

A young girl trespasses into the house. A vagrant is there, rapes and kills her.

Young children wander into the house. They step on broken glass or nails jutting out of boards.

Over the 4th young gang members think it is fun to tag and then set-off fireworks inside the house. The resulting fire guts this historic home.

If the City doesn’t think that every kid within two square miles doesn’t know that the house is open, they are kidding themselves.

By the way, we now know that the home did achieve historic status several years ago.