Officials in Muskegon are stepping up the fight against blight with more than a dozen demolitions planned over the coming weeks.
The Muskegon Chronicle reports the city is using a $250,000 state grant to level 18 homes scattered throughout the city along with another condemned building. The grant is from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's blight elimination program.
Some of the homes are abandoned. Cathy Brubaker-Clarke, the city's director of community and economic development, says the city plans to build new houses on some of the lots. She says other lots may be split and offered for sale to neighboring property owners.
The city owns some of the homes. Brubaker-Clarke says others are owned by private individuals, who will be billed for demolition costs.
