Yesterday, as I was out for a run, I found myself running in front of The Magnolia Cottage on North Bridge Street. I wondered to myself why I had never had occasion to go inside of this beautiful, restored Victorian cottage for dinner with anyone. Then I remembered that most people don’t like me and it made perfect sense. I typically get invitations when someone is raising money for a cause of some sort or they are expecting a gift. When that is the case I take full advantage of it. Any old port in a storm I always say. Anyway, my route would normally take me on down the sidewalk on North Bridge toward the city cemetery, but instead I decided to take a left onto Tuskeena Street. I’ve never paid much attention to the four or five houses that are directly across the street from The Magnolia Cottage. I always knew they were run-down but for whatever reason they never made it out of my peripheral vision as I passed them. On this day, as I slowly ran by(that really goes without saying), I took a glance into the back yards(I use that term loosely) of these homes and realized that the whole place is a dump!
The View From We2 
Have I been missing an opportunity to collect money from you when I invite you somewhere for lunch or dinner???
Well, God bless you. I live in the pink house and it is a horrible site across the street. We have been fighting it for several years and I am very happy someone else noticed. Is that not a beautiful site with the Historical Tour on Sat.
Oh, bye the way Lewis Cohen owns those houses and will not do anything to improve them. We have contacted the city for years and no one as of this moment has done anything…
I've been wondering for years why the old Austin house (huge white victorian with blue trim) on North Bridge is just being left to deteriorate. That house could be an absolute show place. A number of years ago I heard that the family said they wouldn't sell the house until Mrs. Austin died, but I think she's been gone for a few years now. It should be sold for someone to fix up – it could totally be my dream house 🙂
Adam…perhaps.Steve…Does Lewis Cohen live around here?Tiffany…City Attorney Austin owns that house and it is shameful as well. I think the fact that she is the owner probably says all that needs to be said..
Oh boy, it has reared its ugly head again. The absent owners of the West side of Wetumpka were a hot button topic when I ran for office two terms ago, and I see people have noticed that it didn’t go away. This was something that I was speaking frankly about back then (when it turns out I should have been talking new ball complex) and it was a hard topic then too. There are MANY dilapidated pieces of property on that side of the river, as well there should be given the age of that part of town. However that doesn’t mean it has to be. Why would a property owner want to own something that is run down and not usable? I for one wouldn’t, no matter the historical or sentimental investment. You either have the money to fix something up, or tear something down. I see it as an irresponsibility issue on the part of the property owners. In some cases they jumped out there and bought property, then realized it takes cash to fix things, cash they either didn’t have or don’t want to part with. I think that in Wetumpka’s case, if the derelict housing gets under the microscope, some old money families, city leaders, and relatives of both will start crying foul real quick. Yet, you won’t find one person, event the owners stand back and say “My, what a fine piece of property that is” and be serious about it. They too have a conscious.
If you take a look at how many pieces of derelict property is owned by Council members you will understand one big reason that nothing gets done about it.
Finally! Someone noticed! Thad, we don't know you, but you are welome here anytime! Stop by and visit sometime. We would love to meet you. >>> There is a way to solve this. We need to vote nonproductive members of this City out of office. For years they have known and continue to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the situation.<<<< Now is the time to fix it.
Lewis Cohen lives on Grier Rd. He is no more than a slum lord, I even mailed him a letter in reference to the home tour in the morning and he will not even cut the grass. The 3rd house has had raw sewage running down the wall in the bottom apt. from the apt. above it, real nice. Just a shame that when you come off the bridge the first thing you see is the beautiful church and then Slumtumpka.
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I will absolutely do that MC! You have a beautiful place and I'd love to stop by. Now is definitely the time to shine a light on it. I don't know Mr. Cohen. Does he let these buildings stay this way out of sheer spite? Does he just not care? Does anyone know him personally?BTW, whoever Johnny Taylor is that removed his post had some terrible things to say about me. I looked at his profile and website which is called the Promised Land Foundation and is based in Fulton, TX. Does anyone who reads this know him? I'm not sure why he launched into a profanity laced tirade against me. I don't even know this person. He lists Mark as the co-founder of the Promised Land Foundation so it didn't make sense to me that he would say the vile things about me that he did. Maybe if someone knows him they can ask him what his purpose was.
Dear Thad,Johnny Taylor is a brillant person and has been a friend of ours since 1967.I think he must have been confused about who he thought you were. He is a nice person, although very protective of us — at any cost…he must have thought YOU were the Slumlord that owns the junk across the street. That is the only explanation for his comments, whatever they were. We apologize for his comments. He is a good person and we founded the Promised Land Foundation together to try to help wounded vets returning to the States. We will talk to him and explain…surely it was a total misunderstanding.
That is what I was hoping! I've been called lots of things for things that I've written and none of them compared to this! LOL! To his credit, he did delete it right after he posted it which led me to think he may have misread. I certainly hope so! Thanks for the clarification and I definitely want to come see your place soon!
Looking forward to it.
Does anyone think that Tex Grier should keep his job? People should wonder why he says that the junk across the street from us meets the building code. There is no way! Found out today that there is no hot/cold water in some of the apartments and some do not have heat/AC.