Flood-damaged Cedar Rapids neighborhood prepared for demolition

The big push to clear out unrepairable flood-damaged homes in part of one Cedar Rapids neighborhood is now just days away.

The city has commitments from 286 homeowners to take part in the voluntary buyout of properties that pose a threat to life, health or safety. The voluntary buyout covers a good portion of the Time Check neighborhood. And in the areas closest to the Cedar River, nearly every existing home with disappear in a matter of weeks.

D.W. Zinser Construction of Walford won the contract to demolish hundreds of homes. Barring a last minute change, one foreman says a house at 905 Ellis Boulevard will be the first to go. That should probably happen next Monday. Crews plan to work their way down Ellis Boulevard and then work towards the Cedar River.

With a week to go, crews were doing some last minute preparations on Monday. And that included shutting off all the utility services to the homes set for demolition.

Adam Roeder, D.W. Zinser foreman, said when it's all over, the whole area will look radically different.

"It'll be a vast majority of green space. There will be a house here a house there--residents that have decided to rebuild," Roeder said.

When contractors finally get going, the pace should hit 30 demolished homes a week. Based on the number of voluntary buyouts, the entire job should take about three months.

One neighbor, David Donahoo, is staying and moved into a home on Ellis Boulevard last September. Since he bought post flood, he knew what was going to happen to some of the surrounding homes. And Donahoo said while he doesn't want the entire neighborhood to disappear, he also believes the blighted homes need to go.

"I think we'd like to see them torn down if nobody's going to live there--if they're going to be boarded up and vacant," Donahoo said.

Another neighbor who moved in last October, Hannah Thompson, agreed the unrepairable homes have got to go.

"The houses are just sitting here--with animals coming in. There's no reason to have the houses sitting there...get them out of the way," Thompson said.

Contractors told TV9 they believe the city is negotiating with more property owners--so the current list of 286 homes to demolish might possibly expand. That could keep them busy beyond the expected three months.

Homes demolished with FEMA money can't be rebuilt or resold. The city has no definite plans for the space that will be created once the demolitions are complete. But the green space could be part of an eventual permanent flood control system and might have a future use for recreation.

Dave Franzman, KCRG-TV