Neighbors welcome demolition of old motorcycle clubhouse

OFF THE WIRE
http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-06-03/neighbors-welcome-demolition-old-motorcycle-clubhouse
Neighbors welcome demolition of old motorcycle clubhouse Posted: June 3, 2010 - 12:19amPhotos Back | Next
Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson paused for a moment to watch Wednesday afternoon as an excavator began knocking down the old Wingman Motorcycle Club building on Augusta Avenue. He said proper zoning properly enforced would have prevented the motorcycle club from moving into the building. (Photo by Carl Elmore/Savannah Morning News) Back | Next
Pam Oglesbee is president of the West Savannah Neighborhood Association. (Photo by Carl Elmore/Savannah Morning News) Back | Next
Van R. Johnson II, Savannah city alderman. (Photo by Carl Elmore/Savannah Morning News) Back | Next
Residents around the Wingman Motorcycle Club on Augusta Avenue said neither the building nor its use fit the neighborhood. (Photo by Carl Elmore/Savannah Morning News)
Advertisement By Lesley Conn Decades ago, the buildings at the corner of Augusta Avenue and Newell Street were home to West Side Barbeque and Diamond Dry Cleaners.
Then, some years back, members of the Wingman Motorcycle Club bought the building at 1024 Augusta and made it their meeting headquarters. Cement-block walls went up, windows were bricked in, and the sense of community in the West Savannah neighborhood vanished along with the local businesses.
City of Savannah officials took a symbolic swipe at restoring at least this corner Wednesday. Aldermen Van Johnson and Jeff Felser took the first turns behind a backhoe brought in to tear down the corner buildings and the wall around it.
Mayor Otis Johnson said the demolition gave the city a chance to right a historic wrong. Zoning laws should not have allowed a motorcycle club to move into a residential neighborhood, he said. As he stood back to watch the first chunks of roof torn away, neighbor Louise M. Williams-Hanna gave Chatham County Commissioner Priscilla Thomas a long hug.
"The neighborhood needs to see this go," Williams-Hanna said. "We've been waiting to see this for a long time."
The city of Savannah bought the building and will work with neighborhood associations to determine what can be built there. Williams-Hanna, who owned an adjacent parking lot, sold that property to the city to help with the effort.
She and Pamela Oglesby, president of the West Savannah Community Association, said often as many as 75 motorcycles would park around the building, and members' comings and goings were loud and disruptive to neighbors.
Blight eradication has been a major initiative of the City Council in the past few years. Three times, the city has released a list of the 100 worst properties in the city. Problem properties were demolished, brought up to code, restored or stabilized. The city is about 95 percent through its third list, said Kenneth Dentice, property maintenance director.
The motorcycle club was not listed on the past two lists. But even blocks away, Alderman Johnson said, the view of the building created a bad impression on a corner that serves as a gateway to West Savannah.
"It looked like a fortress," he said. "I think the efforts here are further indicative of the city of Savannah's commitment to restore that which was lost through neglect and decay, and it is further proof of our resolve that never again will we desecrate our neighborhoods with inappropriate land uses that are detrimental to the health of any community."