A seven year plan from the Wilmington Housing Partnership to revitalize the city’s Eastside neighborhoods is now underway. The goal of the public-private partnership is to repopulate the high-crime area with safe affordable housing.
City and state officials and representatives from JP Morgan Chase Bank, which has committed $1 million to the Eastside Rising project, where on hand Monday as phase one launched with the demolition of eight abandoned properties.
City Councilwoman Hanifa Shabazz grew up in the Eastside of Wilmington and has been a huge supporter of the plan.
"This day means that this is the death of an old Eastside and the birth of a whole new Eastside - not just brick and mortar - but just the spirits of the people, the energy of the neighborhood, they’re actually seeing some old being destroyed and some new about to be built," sad Shabazz.
Governor Jack Markell (D-Delaware) said he couldn’t wait until new Wilmington residents began moving into the affordable housing development that will take the place of these vacant properties.
"As great as these ground breaking ceremonies are, what’s even better are those ribbon cuttings. And when you see those homeowners actually move in, the pride in their faces, the pride in their children knowing that they have a community that they can feel safe in, that they can feel pride in."
But during remarks from officials like Markell and Rob Buccini of the Wilmington Housing Partnership, some residents peeked out of their houses with confused looks on their faces.
One man, a local resident who would only give his first name, Mark, saw the event while passing through on his bike. He said he’d lived in the neighborhood for thirty years and remembered when the vacant properties were once a brand new construction.
"I seen them bricks go up, now I’m seeing em knocked down."
Mark said that while he thought the revitalization plan was positive, that there wasn’t enough community involvement.
"I don’t see nobody from the community even over there, like, with a blue hat on, or a hard hat on, or even having flags out."
Councilwoman Shabazz countered that project stakeholders knocked on all the doors in the neighborhood before beginning the project, and are working to give construction jobs to workers who live in Eastside before offering them to anyone from outside the community. She is committed to trying to engage even more residents in the seven year plan.
