PINE BLUFF -- Constance Vann of Star City travels to Pine Bluff every week to visit her mother -- a drive she looks forward to, though the number of abandoned houses near her mother's neighborhood creates an uneasy feeling, she said.
"It's just a mess," Vann said. "It's time to do something to make the city more attractive."
Tonight, the Pine Bluff City Council plans to vote on a resolution that could help speed up the process of tearing down abandoned and derelict houses.
The Arkansas Department of Community Correction is proposing a pilot program that would donate labor to the city while helping soon-to-be-paroled inmates gain demolition and construction skills.
The department has received a $830,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission for the project.
With about 600 houses in Pine Bluff that are scheduled for demolition, city leaders said the task would take several years without some help. Data on the number of derelict structures the city takes down each year was not readily available Friday afternoon.
Kevin Murphy, assistant director of re-entry and volunteer services at the Department of Community Correction, said last week at a specially called Pine Bluff City Council meeting that the labor program would allow up to 40 inmates a chance to learn at least two marketable job skills, along with basic job readiness needed to approach the workplace once they are paroled.
The inmates would be housed at four highly supervised duplexes in Pine Bluff adjacent to the Southeast Arkansas Community Correction Center. Murphy said the inmates would all be from Jefferson County and released back into society once they complete the program.
Inmates will be accepted into the program in groups of 10 for six months at a time, he said. The laborers would work primarily on the demolition of houses, not other kinds of buildings, in the city, Murphy said.
Downtown Pine Bluff has been the site of two recent building collapses, one of which is still affecting traffic flow through the area.
In February, the rear section of a vacant downtown building collapsed at Fourth Avenue and Main Street. Last month, the rear section of a historic three-story building on Main Street collapsed, prompting local officials to block off the street between Sixth and Eighth avenues as a precaution.
The rest of the first collapsed building was taken down by construction crews a short time later, though rubble is still piled at the site. City officials said the building's owner had to raise money before paying for debris removal.
City officials said they are also still working with building owner Garland Trice of Pine Bluff to either shore up the vacant building between Sixth and Eighth avenues or take it down.
While the program through the Department of Community Correction wouldn't help with these buildings, Pine Bluff Alderman Wayne Easterly said the program "would be a tremendous asset to this community by getting rid of old houses that have long needed to come down."
"People are always asking when are we going to tear down all of the abandoned houses in the city. This is something we really need."
Some aldermen raised concerns about work being taken away from contractors already on assignments for the city.
Alderman Thelma Walker said she didn't think it was fair to "take away business from people who are already established in this community."
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth said the city will still hire contractors to demolish derelict structures and that the work done by the prisoners would not affect that.
"Each year we budget for demolitions, and that will not change," the mayor said at the specially called meeting.
For Vann and others in Pine Bluff who want to see the city's image improve, it doesn't matter who removes the dilapidated structures, just as long as the work is done as quickly as and efficiently possible.
"I may not live here, but I feel like I have a vested interest in this community with my mother living in the city," Vann said. "These old houses are a real problem, and I am glad people are trying to do more about getting them torn down."
State Desk on 08/18/2014