First big flood home demolition contract wrapping up soon

The first big home demolition contract in the flood zones of Cedar Rapids should wrap up in the next few weeks.  But owners left behind in the hard-hit Time Check area of northeast Cedar Rapids expected to see more empty space by this time.

A house at 905 Ellis Blvd N.E. was the first to fall to demolition equipment back on March 22, 2010.  Since then, the contractor hired by the city has worked steadily throughout the spring and summer to clear away the flooded homes that were never coming back.

The number of Time Check homes on the original list numbered 281.  But by the time D.W. Zinser  of Walford finishes the contract for tearing down voluntary buyout homes,  that total will swell to 385.

Ronnee O'Brien is one resident who repaired her home right after the flood.  O'Brien said every time she looks up and down her block on 5

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Street N.E., she's reminded of what's missing.

“It was really hard.  This is my neighborhood and this is where all of my neighbors were.  We were a tight knit neighborhood down here-we knew neighbors by first name and their kids,” O'Brien said.

City officials said the original completion date was estimated at the first week in August.  But constant rain and conditions too muddy to haul debris will probably push the actual wrap up date in the Time Check area to sometime in mid August.  While a number of streets are almost cleared of homes destroyed by the flood of 2008, others have empty spaces only here and there.

Sara Wolf, who lives near the first home demolished, said she actually expected to see more of a “green space” look by now.  “I thought it'd be more.  I thought it'd be more empty spots around the neighborhood-I'm not seeing as many as I thought there'd be,” Wolf said.

City officials said out of the 385 homes on the demolition list  in Time Check about 80 remain standing.  So it's possible neighbors will get more of that “green space” look by the time everything is done.

D.W. Zinser has demolished the vast majority of buyout homes for the city to date.  But that company apparently won't get the next contract.  Dore Construction of Bay City, Michigan submitted the apparent low bid for the next round of 165 homes to demolish in southeast Cedar Rapids.  That work will probably start in September.

The Cedar Rapids city council is expected to award that contract August 10

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