Mayor Terry Announces Program to Fight Blight

Mayor Stephanie Terry today announced the launch of the Fight Blight program, aimed at identifying and rehabilitating blighted properties throughout Evansville - and asked for the public's help in the program's first phase.

"We have a number of properties across Evansville that are vacant, abandoned, or in other ways beyond repair," Mayor Terry said. "Fight Blight is aimed at identifying those properties and either rehabilitating or re-developing as many as possible, so that we remove these hazardous eyesores from our neighborhoods and bring them back as safe, stable homes or businesses that residents are proud to have in their neighborhoods."

Earlier this year, during the budget process, Mayor Terry announced plans to allocate $550,000 in American Rescue Plan Act interest funds to blight removal. The first phase of Fight Blight will utilize some of those funds to raze 23 properties that the Building Commission already has slated for demolition, but ran out of funding to take down in 2024.

Over the course of 2025, city officials expect to be able to use those funds raze at least 150 structures - nearly three times as many as will be razed in 2024.

At the same time, Mayor Terry is asking residents to help create a database of blighted properties in the community. If there is a property in your neighborhood that is vacant, abandoned, boarded up, or that otherwise "exhibits objectively determinable signs of deterioration sufficient to constitute a threat to human health, safety, and public welfare," please email the property's address - along with the condition of the house and, if you are able, a photograph - to [email protected]. This will get the property into the city's database, and begin the process of inspecting it and determining if it meets the qualifications of a blighted property.

"The first step in solving any problem is having a thorough understanding of the problem," Mayor Terry said. "We're asking the public to help us identify as many blighted properties as possible to help ensure we have a full grasp of the scope of this issue, which will allow us to move forward with a strategic and intentional effort to remediate the blight in our community - which is a critical element in our neighborhood revitalization efforts."

Once city officials have had the opportunity to inspect the identified properties, those properties that meet the qualifications for either demolition or rehabilitation through Fight Blight will be prioritized based on their condition, as well as by their location. Properties in the worst condition, as well as clusters of properties that, when added together, can make a significant impact on a neighborhood, will be first in line for possible remediation.

So while not all properties identified will be able to see immediate cleanup, city officials will use the ARPA interest funds, as well as additional funds budgeted in 2025 for the Land Bank and for land acquisition, to make as large an impact as possible.

"This isn't a problem we'll solve in one year, or even two or three," Mayor Terry said. "But we are committed to neighborhood revitalization, and these properties - along with being a drain on their neighborhoods - are dangers to anyone who enters, including police who may have enter due to criminal activity or firefighters battling a structure fire.

"They also represent uncollected property tax dollars, which could be invested back into our community."