MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An eyesore that’s loomed for decades over people coming into Memphis is finally coming down.
On Wednesday, the city announced the owner of the French Fort hotel, which towers next to the I-55 bridge heading into downtown, has agreed to demolish it.
“I’m just so happy, we’re happy. This is the happiest day that we’ve experienced in the 20 plus years that this building has sat here.”
Sara Lewis was vocal for years about the vacant building in her neighborhood that used to be a hotel.
“We knew prostitution was going on, they were smoking stuff, and sometimes I would park my car and you could smell it,” she said.
Mayor Jim Strickland’s announcement that this building is coming down comes as a surprise to those who complained about the building for years.
“Part of the agreement is that the neighbors will work with the owner to find out what’s going to happen next here. The process hasn’t begun, it’s a clean slate and I think there’s respectful communication that will be started here,” the mayor said.
Strickland said all parties agreed to a consent order that Environmental Court Judge John Cameron signed Wednesday.
The court certified the property as a public nuisance.
That’s why neighbors kept speaking out about this property.
“The good thing is we’re a small community of about 142 houses, and we have 3rd and 4th generation children because we teach them from day one it is not the value of the houses that we have but it is the land on which they sit,” said Lewis.
The owner of the building will tear it down and pay for it.
The structure will be demolished no later than September 1, 2016.
More from WREG:
Blighted building battle heats up over property near I-55 bridge
Homeowners in the French Fort community say the former Quality Inn building is a nuisance