To save or scrap? 3 declining Abilene buildings face possible demolition

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – The Abilene Board of Building Standards met Wednesday, May 1 to discuss the course of action for eight local properties found to be in disrepair. Now, three non-residential buildings are facing possible demolition in the future. Those buildings are The Old North 13th “rec center,” Fair Park Elementary, and a commercial property on the 400 block of Peach street that dates back to the 1920s.

The North 13th property and Peach Street property owners were ordered to demolish or appeal the order within 30 days of May 1, otherwise the city would take over demolition. Fair Park Elementary was found to be in substandard condition as well, but given that same 30 days to provide a plan of action including a timeframe for repair, cost estimates, and permits for repair.

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In all three cases, the properties owners or representatives thereof went before city council to discuss their standings on the buildings.

Fair Park Elementary is currently owned by Armstrong Electric Supply. Manager Brooks Armstrong spoke to council on the difficulties he’s faced in the restoration of the property.

“I need to put a fence around it because they (select homeless people) attack that building like you wouldn’t believe… The bums have got in there, and electrical is pretty much gone,” said Armstrong.

BELOW: Fair Park Elementary school interior photos, courtesy of the City of Abilene

The school was also subject to a flash fire in 2015, and has a large amount of water filling a lower floor. Owners of the other properties told KTAB/KRBC they have also had run ins with people trespassing, vandalizing, or stealing from the buildings.

The Peach Street property is owned by KGNZ radio. General Manager, Gary Hill expressed his frustrations to us.

“People in that neighborhood, they want their neighborhood to be good. We want it to be good. It’s really frustrating when you’ve got people that are throwing stuff, busting out windows, and then you get those who are not happy because the place doesn’t, you know, doesn’t look great,” Hill explained.

BELOW: Peach Street property interior photos, courtesy of the City of Abilene

On behalf of the owners of the North 13th “rec center,” Shawnte Fleming of Let us Breathe Abilene expressed a desire to save the center for it’s historic ties to the the Carver neighborhood and Abilene’s Black community.

“This is a historic Black neighborhood… We’re really, really trying to preserve our Black history that is down there,” shared Fleming.

At one time or another, each of these properties served a public service, whether education at Fair Park, commerce on Peach Street, or community gatherings on North 13th. Abilene historian and local leader, Reverend Andrew Penns shared a bit of the history he’s seen at that last location, having known an original owner.

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“It said ‘rec center,’ but it was more. It had pool tables and they did dances, also… When he first opened it, it was a fairly good place to go,” Rev. Penns told KTAB/KRBC. “When that business opened, there was a family restaurant just on the corner, a washateria adjacent to the other side, there was a family owned grocery store… The neighborhood was still pretty much stable in that area.”

As with all of the properties, though, time has taken its toll on the old rec center. Rev. Penns described the transition period in the late 1980s, in which a younger generation began to move into the neighborhood as long standing businesses were closed and the rec center began to change for the worse.

“Drugs began to increase, burglaries was increasing, prostitution was increasing… And today, it is a bit of an eye sore in the neighborhood,” recalled Rev. Penns.

BELOW: North 13th rec center photos, courtesy of the City of Abilene

This decline, in part, led to the establishment of an organization the reverend has been involved with for many years; the Interested Citizens of Abilene North (I-CAN). It’s a group focused on the preservation and improvement of the Carver Neighborhood in North Abilene.

“Right about that time, I received a call from Mrs. Gladys Abor about activities [in the neighborhood], and her and her husband unable to rest at night. A fear of guns, shots at night. They were up in age and she wanted something done… We started speaking about what can be done to change the perception of what 13th had become,” Rev. Penns said.

While much improvement has come to the neighborhood, Rev. Penns said the rec center has not been as fortunate. The property has fallen further into disrepair through the decades, as have the other two properties, leaving the owners facing the same decision.

“Do we try to gut it and try to save it,” pondered Fleming, “or do we look at to demolish it and to start out with something new?”

Over on Peach Street, Hill told KTAB/KRBC, KGNZ has heard interest from a local couple to turn the property into a youth drug rehabilitation center. This is a mission he said the property’s former owner, whom gifted it to the station, would be proud of.

“A couple that, they had lost their son to fentanyl poisoning, I think it’s been about 4 months ago. They walked around the building and they prayed over it. They said this would be awesome if this could become something, maybe for teenager rehab to help kids get off of drugs and not to see another casualty. They said, like their son,” Hill relayed.

Without a major influx of cash support the situation for each property, that decision will come down to two variables: What the owners can afford to do, and what is best for the neighborhood.

“It would be cool to see [the Peach Street property] to go back to the heydays… And it’s just kind of sad to see things get bulldozed,” reflected Hill.

As for the North 13th rec center, it’s at a point where its fans think good can still come of it.

“Something else could come in there to be very positive and then it would put a different… perspective on the minds of people saying, ‘well don’t go on 13th Street.’ They’ll be proud to come down 13th Street,” Rev. Penns added.

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Hill said the Peach Street property will likely be demolished if no buyers step in to take over renovation; Fleming explained that the rec center owners would like to save what they can or demolish to build something positive in its place; and Armstrong said Fair Park Elementary was originally purchased to be converted into a home, but they now plan to repair the structure and use it for storage.

All owners have until the end of May to make their decisions, or two out of the three may appeal the order.

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