*Menu
Search
Submit
McCook Gazette

A house divided

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Someone sorts through architectural salvage and rubble taken out of the big yellow house at 301 E. Second in McCook, the subject of a disagreement between the City of McCook and owner Terry Jessen of Scottsbluff/Gering. City officials and the McCook Health Board and Property Resolution Team want the 110-year-old house torn down. The house, divided into apartments, is unoccupied, and, City Manager Kurt Fritsch said, uninhabitable and not worth the expense of renovating. "It's outlived its usefulness," Fritsch said. Jessen disagrees. Last week, Jessen and a crew of workers removed a second-story porch roof that was hanging loose, (the silhouette of which is outlined in a different shade of yellow paint) and hauled out and disposed of appliances and the pile of lathe and plaster that resulted from a previous owner's attempt to remove an interior wall and open up the stairway. Jessen said last week he feels he has addressed the city's concerns about the structure's safety. On Tuesday, March 24, Jessen appeared in Red Willow county court on one count of violating a city ordinance by allowing a property to accumulate trash, become unsightly and negatively affect the valuation of neighboring properties; Jessen is expected to enter a plea on April 7. A second similar charge was dismissed. No date has been set yet in district court to hear the city's case for condemnation.

Comments
View 15 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.

  • What a shame. I grew up in McCook and as a little girl i would dream about some day living in that grand old house. I should have bought the house and made my dream come true.

    -- Posted by shorty19 on Tue, Mar 31, 2009, at 7:41 PM

  • I think that if he is making a reasonable attempt at completing the safety requirements then what is the big deal, there are houses that look way worse and more dangerous them his.

    -- Posted by kncarman on Wed, Apr 1, 2009, at 8:25 AM

  • I agree that there are more places in town that are in worse shape. Those places have alot to be desired when judging them to be bad or not.

    Most of the places are trailer homes that are really bad. I haven't seem them on the list of bad dwellings. Why???

    -- Posted by edbru on Wed, Apr 1, 2009, at 6:18 PM

  • Very well said kncarman. Give the guy a chance to fix it up. Why just pick on that house. Do they have something against Victorian style houses?

    -- Posted by mc Historybuff on Wed, Apr 1, 2009, at 6:18 PM

  • Historybuff we all know it's not because City Council dislikes the Victorian design but rather BECAUSE they ARE the City Council..it's something this town sees time and time again...and i wonder if City Manager Kurt Fritsch has had a contractor go through the house and give him a total of what it might cost to renovated the house?? and does anyoneknow what kind of money Terry Jessen is wanting to pour into this house? has anyone asked him point blank?.at least let the man begin the renovation and perhaps have some sort of timeline that is agreeable with everyone concerned...

    -- Posted by misty on Thu, Apr 2, 2009, at 12:18 AM

  • I'm not sure how long this guy has owned said property, but Growing up a few blocks from this place, I know it's been a dump since I moved here 16 years ago. It's gotten only worse. If the guy wants to pour money into it, let him, it would be about time someone actually did something with it.

    -- Posted by thimself on Thu, Apr 2, 2009, at 10:54 AM

  • It is a shame however how long do you give someone to fix it up? He purchased it May of 2006 for less than $3,000. Seems like he's had 3 years to think about what to do... I think its nice to see a Council be proactive towards cleaning up our City instead of letting things go like past Councils. This is just a start. History is one thing, dilapitation is another. Lets build a history for Mccook on people who want to take care of their neighborhoods and get things done in a timely manner instead of letting place lie dormant. Lets be proud of where we live instead of dwelling on places that just are beyond repair.

    -- Posted by FNLYHOME on Thu, Apr 2, 2009, at 11:02 AM

  • WHY NOT DESTROY EVERONE PROPERTY!!! THAT'S ALL YOU (CITY COUNCIL) WANT TO DO ANYWAY!!!!

    -- Posted by ace1965 on Thu, Apr 2, 2009, at 12:24 PM

  • Ace, YOU'RE WRONG! This City Council finally is proactive towards cleaning up our City. There have been many dilapitated houses sitting around for too many years. It's about time someone is taking an approach to bettering our City instead of keeping it looking like an eyesore! They don't want to tear down everyone's houses...they want to make people responsible and care for their ownership. Obviously you don't care what your neighborhood looks like!

    -- Posted by FNLYHOME on Fri, Apr 3, 2009, at 8:13 AM

  • I spent half of my life at the Casy's house next to this one and the other half a few blocks up. The place has been and always will be a dump, true there are worse houses in town but, knocking this one down is the best thing that ever happend to this crappy roach hotel.

    -- Posted by Jedder on Fri, Apr 3, 2009, at 8:30 AM

  • It's about time the city has started to make the owners of some of the eye sores and junk houses in this town fix them if they want to keep them. The past councils and city managers have ignored the problem for years. Go for it boys and girls, there are many many more that need this stimulus to either put up (the repairs and cleanup) or shutup. Have an eyesore in mind? Call the city office and get it on the list! They are a lot more in this town that need to be in the bottom of a dump. Ms. Doak wrote a nice piece on this old house, but let's face it, unless you have 100-150 grand or so laying around to dump into it,that old house ain't going to make the cut!

    -- Posted by goarmy67 on Sun, Apr 5, 2009, at 5:51 PM

  • LIST

    1. what about city properties

    2.crime and drugs in mccook

    3. alcohol permits how many do we need in this town

    4.go by state laws not ones we make up

    5.this is not russia

    6.look in your back yard i bet some one wants to complain on stuff in there whats your rights??????

    7. if your not selling to get out of mccook shut up the ones that are complaining are the ones that are thinking of moving are so far in dedt they can't pay the mortage

    this town has killed it self by the attiudes of the people we all have rights

    8 spend the money we have for the city to pay of the water treatment plant and sower cheaper water and sew rates

    run the town not try to make this town like denver

    and trate all with respect ,

    -- Posted by rightsforall on Mon, Apr 6, 2009, at 6:20 PM

  • Next stop for the clean up express should be the north side of Q St from Fairacres west, but last time something was said about the mess,if I remember correctly the area is not in the city and boys at the county would have to do something about it. I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen! Many years ago the county made Martin Salvage put up fences around their salvage yard in order to do business, why in the hell won't they do something about the mess north of Q St? Or for that matter the mess on the curve about 3/4 mile west of Martins on the north side. What an eye sore, come on county boys have a set and do something about the eyesores, what is good for Martin's is good for the rest of 'em.

    -- Posted by goarmy67 on Mon, Apr 6, 2009, at 8:41 PM

  • Has anyone who made a negative comment been inside the house?! Don't judge a book by it's cover.....that's something everyone learns in grade school.

    -- Posted by abcd2009 on Mon, Apr 6, 2009, at 11:36 PM

  • This home is well worth saving. The structure is very sound. There do not appear to be ANY safety issues. The City Manager needs to clean up other properties & cooperate with the owner of 301 E 2nd Street, who it appears has fully responded to all city issues of safety at this time. The city can always come back again if new problems develop.

    Lets Build McCook - Not tear it down !!

    -- Posted by houselover on Tue, Apr 14, 2009, at 9:49 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: