2119 16th Street (photo taken in August 2016)
In August of 2016, the future of four houses in the 2100 block of 16th Street in Great Bend looked bleak. Great Bend Code Enforcement Officer Stuart Baker and the city council deemed the houses unsafe and dangerous with collapsing roofs, open crawl spaces, rotting wood, and sagging porches.
Nearly seven months later, a lot of renovations, and fixing a stray cat issue, Baker says the houses are in compliance with city code.
Stuart Baker Audio
The houses at 2109, 2111, 2115, and 2119 16th Street have been vacant for years.
A public hearing was scheduled in September of 2016 where owner Ida Marie Luse promised the city council that she would pay to have improvements made on the houses to avoid them being demolished. The city council gave Luse 60 days before the progress was reevaluated in November.
At Monday’s meeting, Luse received the word that the homes near the Post Office were in compliance.
Ida Marie Luse Audio
Luse mentioned she was not sure if she would eventually make the properties habitable inside, rent them out, or sell them.