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By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
POSTED: 07:32 a.m. EST, Jan 08, 2009
TALLMADGE: Four years after the Civil War ended, a house was built just off the Tallmadge Circle.
Over the years, a few additions were added on to the tiny home.
And now, 140 years after the original portion was built, a demolition crew tore it down in a matter of a few hours.
The house, owned by Linda and Randy Lorkowski, became the center of controversy with the city over whether it could be torn down.
In the midst of the fight, the city even imposed a ban on the demolition of structures built before 1907, citing a need to preserve the community's historical charm.
The couple took the city to court and were eventually granted a demolition permit from City Council.
Summit County records show the house was built in 1873. Lorkowski said her records show the first building on the property went up in 1869, but was not recorded until 1873.
The couple purchased the old home in 2005 for $87,500 and at first thought they might want to renovate it and build an addition where they would house their commercial bakery, Linda's Kitchen, now located on East Avenue in Tallmadge.
But building experts told them the old structure wasn't sound enough to renovate.
The couple decided it would be best to raze the home.
But the city's Appearance Commission decided that the structure should be saved, said Pat Sauner, the city's Community Development Director.
The Lorkowskis applied to Summit County for federal funds to have the building torn down and the funding was approved in 2008, said Kathleen Petsko, grant program analyst for the Summit County Department of Community and Economic Development.
The program funded through Community Development Block Grant funds paid for tearing down about 15 structures in Summit County in 2008.
The county approved paying the entire cost of demolition of the building, up to $7,500, Petsko said, for structures that are beyond repair.
The house, Petsko said, ''was in bad shape'' and had been vacant a long time. She added the funding was provided after it was determined that the building was not eligible to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Glenn Butcher, president of Butcher & Son, the Akron demolition company that tore the building down, said it came down in about a half hour.
The wood was dry and brittle, making the demolition job easier to do, he said.
''Three years for 30 minutes of work,'' he said.
Crews on Wednesday were putting topsoil on the spot where the old house once stood and planting grass seed.
The couple figures they spent about $15,000 in legal bills in the fight over whether the home could be torn down.
Lorkowski said she and her husband are now considering building a new structure on the lot for her bakery that specializes in cookies, cakes and wedding cakes and pastries .
''We are talking again'' about building in Tallmadge, but have not decided, she said.
''Maybe we should try it,'' she said.
In the meantime, the property, zoned commercial, is for sale for $175,000.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
TALLMADGE: Four years after the Civil War ended, a house was built just off the Tallmadge Circle.
Over the years, a few additions were added on to the tiny home.
And now, 140 years after the original portion was built, a demolition crew tore it down in a matter of a few hours.
The house, owned by Linda and Randy Lorkowski, became the center of controversy with the city over whether it could be torn down.
In the midst of the fight, the city even imposed a ban on the demolition of structures built before 1907, citing a need to preserve the community's historical charm.
The couple took the city to court and were eventually granted a demolition permit from City Council.
Summit County records show the house was built in 1873. Lorkowski said her records show the first building on the property went up in 1869, but was not recorded until 1873.
The couple purchased the old home in 2005 for $87,500 and at first thought they might want to renovate it and build an addition where they would house their commercial bakery, Linda's Kitchen, now located on East Avenue in Tallmadge.
But building experts told them the old structure wasn't sound enough to renovate.
The couple decided it would be best to raze the home.
But the city's Appearance Commission decided that the structure should be saved, said Pat Sauner, the city's Community Development Director.
The Lorkowskis applied to Summit County for federal funds to have the building torn down and the funding was approved in 2008, said Kathleen Petsko, grant program analyst for the Summit County Department of Community and Economic Development.
The program funded through Community Development Block Grant funds paid for tearing down about 15 structures in Summit County in 2008.
The county approved paying the entire cost of demolition of the building, up to $7,500, Petsko said, for structures that are beyond repair.
The house, Petsko said, ''was in bad shape'' and had been vacant a long time. She added the funding was provided after it was determined that the building was not eligible to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Glenn Butcher, president of Butcher & Son, the Akron demolition company that tore the building down, said it came down in about a half hour.
The wood was dry and brittle, making the demolition job easier to do, he said.
''Three years for 30 minutes of work,'' he said.
Crews on Wednesday were putting topsoil on the spot where the old house once stood and planting grass seed.
The couple figures they spent about $15,000 in legal bills in the fight over whether the home could be torn down.
Lorkowski said she and her husband are now considering building a new structure on the lot for her bakery that specializes in cookies, cakes and wedding cakes and pastries .
''We are talking again'' about building in Tallmadge, but have not decided, she said.
''Maybe we should try it,'' she said.
In the meantime, the property, zoned commercial, is for sale for $175,000.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Posted 03:50 PM, 01/07/2009
They were too loud!
Posted 04:55 PM, 01/07/2009
Ask the former restaurant on rte 91.
Posted 08:00 PM, 01/07/2009
Wrong street eugene, that was south ave.
If Grimm covered the cost of investigating the crook Hedrick who stole from the city, why doesn't he reimburse this business the cost when they are actually trying to help Tallmadge by making it better and not rob it.
It seems the mayor is a little backwards.
Keene, NH
Posted 10:48 PM, 01/07/2009
Nice way to endear yourselves... to your hometown... Buy a significant property of some beauty and historic value, then raze it!
You can hire any expert to tell you what you want to hear... For me, the real story is the cost of restoration... Follow the money...
For me, the owners lacked the imagination and will to follow through... They were poor stewards... And should be remembered as such.
Best
Steve Lindsey
Keene, NH
SteveLindsey60@hotmail.com
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 07:50 AM, 01/08/2009
Linda's Kitchen makes great cookies and cakes. I hope she keeps her business in Tallmadge. The Tallmadge Appearance Commission is out of control and those fools have no idea what to do.
Port Saint Lucie, Fl
Posted 08:57 AM, 01/08/2009
What's with the Astro Boy avatar?
Akron, OH
Posted 09:27 AM, 01/08/2009
Wish the pretentiously monikered Tallmadge Appearance Commission would've saved the Welcome Wagon Buffet years ago.
They save the Circle. That's bad enough.
"Appearances" are deceiving, you know.
Give 'em hell, Grumpster.
Posted 10:02 AM, 01/08/2009
Boycott the cake business
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 10:59 AM, 01/08/2009
Re: SteveLindsey http://www.nhfacts.com/site/taxonomy/term/15
Akron, OH
Posted 12:16 PM, 01/08/2009
Enough with the Astro Boy. Pearl Harbor didn't work out for the Japanese, so they invaded with Japanimation. Astro Boy was the first strike.
Actually, I remember Astro Boy on Professor Jack's show on old Channel 49, live from the Copley Road studios. Anyone else?
Stow, OH
Posted 12:16 PM, 01/08/2009
"...significant property of some beauty and historic value..."
???
Are we looking at the same pictures?
Green, OH
Posted 05:02 PM, 01/08/2009
Does anyone else wonder why the Lorkowskis did not consult the "building renovation experts" BEFORE they bought a very old wooden house that had been vacant for several years?
Purchase price = $87,500
Legal bills = $15,000
Demolition = Free (to them)
Vacant property now for sale at $175,000
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......
akron, oh
Posted 08:06 PM, 01/08/2009
yfufuofuo
Cuyahoga Falls, Oh
Posted 08:36 PM, 01/08/2009
An opinion from New Hampshire??? Sure glad it wasn't the Dean dude again-ha! Or was he from Vermont? Um...fyi?
"The house, Petsko said, ''was in bad shape'' and had been vacant a long time. She added the funding was provided after it was determined that the building was not eligible to be added to the National Register of Historic Places."
Aw...but the local administration knows best, eh?
Is this any kind of equal justice, folks? An administration in the Falls uses the law to usurp private property rights in order to effect a community improvement while an administration in Talmadge uses the law to try to prevent a community improvement.
Perhaps the good folks of the "Talmadge Appearance Commission" should move to Hudson, eh?
Akron, OH
Posted 12:58 PM, 01/09/2009
I hear Mayor Grimm called the TAC, tried to pass himself off as Old Man Grump, and told the board they had his (Grump's) permission to tear down his (Grump's) home.
Board members became suspicious since the call came in past 9 PM, Grump's bed time.
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:39 PM, 01/09/2009
Astro Boy on Professor Jack Show! Talk about an old queen~.......poor Jack Bennett. So tell me Jack, how long now have YOU been SICK?
Akron, Oh
Posted 03:43 PM, 01/09/2009
ASTRO BOY on The Professor Jack Show~! Yeah! Channel 49 WAKR TV. Talk about an old queen. So Tell me Jack Bennett, how long NOW have YOU been sick?
Houston, tx
Posted 05:55 PM, 01/09/2009
Its sad that one would want to tear this house down!!! I know the former owners of the house and grew up there. The new couple only cared about the money!! very sad. With a little time and imagination it could have been fixed.
Houston, tx
Posted 05:59 PM, 01/09/2009
let me add that in the last picture that was not the house they tore down!!
Posted 10:50 AM, 01/10/2009
tkellum ,
That last picture is the part of the house the TAC wanted to save, the rest of the house that had been removed was from the 1960s. If you knew anything about what goes on here, you would know that. I also highly doubt you knew the "previous owner". This house had been abandon since the early 90's. I know, I LIVE in Tallmadge and drove past is almost every day. Before that, it was an elderly gentleman who ran an appliance store. He couldn't afford to fix up the building to "TAC desires", so he retired and let the house default to the bank. Why do people insist on making judgment calls on topics they have no idea about.
I expect this kind of armchair banter from 12 year old posting on youtube videos, not from adults.
Unless you post your credentials as an architect, engineer or historian, I don't give a crap what your opinion says from looking at a picture on an article. If you can make a judgment that easily, I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale.
I want my hometown to look better. Since when did the public have a say in personal property rights.
This is not a communist country!
Tallmadge, Oh
Posted 02:57 PM, 01/10/2009
tkellum Actually, the part you are claiming is not historic is the only part of the house that was ever in question.
Omaha, NE
Posted 02:15 PM, 01/13/2009
thewatchman:
actually tkellum used to know the older couple quite well. She is one of their grandchildren.
Now as for my comment to all. The house is gone now there isn't anything anyone can do about it now. Yes the house had LOTS of memories for LOTS of people including myself...but memories is what we have. I hope that all of those folks that have shared the memories with me alway remember as I will.
Stow, Oh
Posted 01:01 AM, 04/18/2009
scn vsnj vsdk sd mjds vokd
