Just found out today that our home on Chopin Street is finally going to be demolished by the City of Detroit. We found out through TV2 and their inter-active website (attached) that of the 4 burned-out homes on Chopin, ours will be taken down because the owners had home insurance when the place burned down. The other 3 homes were not insured. My mom and dad moved off Chopin St. 18 yrs ago, my sister, Jackie and her family moved out of the home in 1999. It was bought and sold several times after that. It was fire-bombed at least 3 times since. The City recd $13,000 from the house ins. to demolish it in 2008 and the owners recd $40,000 from the insurance. The $13,000 sat in a City fund of $$$ recd from insurance companies (since 2008!) for the purpose of knocking down these inhabitable homes. (Thank goodness Kwame never took this money!!) Talking about the house last night with my sister and brother we realized there was much family history in that home. My mom and dad bought the home from Grandparents Nyklewicz. My grandparents built the Chopin home in 1914 and didnt move out until 1924 when they built the home on 52nd street (the one that Darrell and Dan just sold). We know that my mom and her sisters, Aunt Stella, Aunt Helen, Aunt Lottie, Aunt Frances and Aunt Louise lived in the Chopin home. My mom said Busia wanted to move across Michigan Ave. to be closer to the church, which indeed they were once they moved! My parents bought the Chopin home from Busia and Dzadziu when they married (we dont know who lived in the home until my parents bought it --- dont know if it was relatives or rented out!) Anyway, once my parents bought the home in 1939, Stas, Jackie, Louis and I all lived in the home with our parents. Since it was a 2-family home, my parents rented the up-stairs flat to several family members ---that was a treat!!! There was Chris, Judy, their parents Aunt Frances and Uncle Stanley who rented for several years. Aunt Helen, Uncle Harry and Bobby, as we knew him (Jerry, Andreas husband & Alicias dad) who stayed quite a few years --- we loved the band practices that Bob would have in the basement. Then cousins Dolly and George (Rays sister) rented for several years. My brother, Stan, when he returned from the Air Force lived upstairs until he married; then, my sister, Jackie and her husband Russ, took over the upstairs after they married and its where Kathy, Carrie, Steve and Susan all lived until they moved in 1999. And then, of course, across the alley was Aunt Lottie and Uncle John, Conrad, Lorraine and Rickey; and the Nowaks...Jim, Tom, Michael and parents. Looking back, that was really one great kind of a childhood---to share so much with so many family members!!!! And so many family members sharing one house!! (p.s. the inter-active map works great---just put in an address and you may be surprised) myfoxdetroit/story/25081067/interactive-map-is-your-house-sitting-next-a-home-with-earmarked-money-to-be-demolished-or-repaired
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 23:07:20 +0000
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