Dave Huckaby: Will a dirt lot look better than decrepit buildings?
Re “Wrecking ball headed to planned site of new courthouse – but then what?” (Front page, Sept. 10): So the purported downtown site of the new courthouse has fallen into disrepair. After an apparent complaint, the city and the state are moving to completely tear town the buildings on the entire block. So it appears what will be left is a square city block of dirt, and probably enclosed by a chain-link fence.
The article pointed out that funding isn’t currently available to complete the courthouse project. So, how many years will residents and others drive by a fenced-in dirt lot? If a complaint hadn’t been received, would the city and the state have done anything to rectify the condition of the location?
As a side note, I find it most interesting the cities of Manteca and Stockton have both recently landed Amazon facilities. So where was Modesto when Amazon was out there?
Dave Huckaby, Modesto
This story was originally published September 13, 2017 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Dave Huckaby: Will a dirt lot look better than decrepit buildings?."