By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

The blue house of 408 W. Washington St. has been demolished, according to Madison City Manager David Nunn. The building had asbestos in it that had to be removed and abated.
Marshall Woody Williams shared information that E.A. Rice purchased the property for $700 from Saleta O’Neal in 1890. O’Neal received the house in 1883.
He also shared that the house had been vacant for decades.
Removing the hazardous material cost almost as much as removing the building itself, according to Nunn.
County tax documents noted that the house served as the location for Allstate Septic Tanks, Inc. for a time and that the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) purchased the house in 2011.
City Planner Monica Callahan said that the DDA has “no immediate intent” to develop the property.
“They are assembling parcels as they come up for sale in that area,” she said. To date they have received 13 tracts of land as well as rights of way in the West Washington Street area.
They are working on a project now to relocate a historic train depot donated by Norfolk Southern to one of the tracts donated by Sandy Sanford’s company, Morgan County Property, LLC.
They also plan to request a piece of surplus property commonly referred to as the “Old Christian Car Lot” located to the left of Richter Cottage from the city  of Madison.
Callahan said that the presence of multiple small, weirdly contorted pieces of property is an impediment to development.
“The DDA assembles tracts to correct that,” she said, adding that they hope to make more acceptable tracts conducive to redevelopment.

Printed in the December 6, 2012 edition