What can be done with the old T.C. Esser paint factory complex between Galena and Cherry, west of the RR tracks along N. 32nd Street. At present, there is a paint store in the middle of the property that is mostly used by contractors.
Many years ago, Esser bought all the properties along the east side of the 1500 block of N. 32nd Street, and razed them for a parking lot. This lot is fenced in, overgrown by bushes and badly littered with debris, both windblown and deliberately littered (tires don't blow in the wind!). This parking lot has not been used in over twenty years.
If this strip could be reclaimed from the property owners, it could be re-homesteaded by Habitat for Humanity or some other outfit, or turned into a community garden strip.
Another idea would be to look into the feasibility of turning the old factory-warehouse into a neighborhood school, or even into an enterprise incubator.
Right now, except for the "hidden" paint store, this once busy property is a useless ruin of the past.
I think it is time to look at this block as a hidden asset, and do something with it.
By Luna Karnes
Many years ago, Esser bought all the properties along the east side of the 1500 block of N. 32nd Street, and razed them for a parking lot. This lot is fenced in, overgrown by bushes and badly littered with debris, both windblown and deliberately littered (tires don't blow in the wind!). This parking lot has not been used in over twenty years.
If this strip could be reclaimed from the property owners, it could be re-homesteaded by Habitat for Humanity or some other outfit, or turned into a community garden strip.
Another idea would be to look into the feasibility of turning the old factory-warehouse into a neighborhood school, or even into an enterprise incubator.
Right now, except for the "hidden" paint store, this once busy property is a useless ruin of the past.
I think it is time to look at this block as a hidden asset, and do something with it.
By Luna Karnes
