Historic Buildings – Foreclosures

Not only the new houses, but even the old vintage houses are going to be effected by the foreclosures…

Community activists and preservation experts are fighting Bridgeport’s plans to foreclose on two historic homes that once stood in the heart of the city’s “Little Liberia” settlement.

The small houses, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, became the foundation for a thriving community of free black people known as “Little Liberia.”

The Freeman houses, said to be among the earliest homes built by black families in Connecticut, were named for two sisters who built them in the mid-1800s.

Bridgeport plans to foreclose on the vacant homes because it says the owner, Action for Bridgeport Community Development (ABCD), owes $116,000 in delinquent taxes dating to 1990. The agency refuses to pay the taxes, saying its nonprofit status means its properties are tax-exempt.

The dispute has angered some people in Bridgeport’s black community and prompted some groupsand they have also asked Mayor Bill Finch to reconsider the situation again.

Even though Craig Kelly, president of the Greater Bridgeport chapter of the NAACP is repeatedly saying that this should be inappropriate to anyone regardless of whether they are black or white.. the crowd is still not listening.

However, city officials say Bridgeport is legally entitled to levy taxes on the homes even if they are owned by a nonprofit agency.

“There is no question they are taxable. When a nonprofit owns a piece of real estate and does not use it, the real estate becomes taxable. You can’t bank properties,” said Russell Liskov, an associate city attorney who handles foreclosures for the city.

“This is about black history and how we continue that, and use it for our families and children so they can learn from history and from us,” Tisdale said.

Many of those early residents were Ethiopian seamen who worked on whalers and West Indies schooners. Others worked as shopkeepers, waiters and barbers. The Underground Railroad is said to have had a depot there as it ferried southern slaves to northern communities.

All that remains are the Freeman houses, which are surrounded by a storage warehouse, a five-story brick apartment building and a parking lot.

The homes are vacant, surrounded by a security fence. The structures are sound, although in disrepair.

If and when the city takes control of the property, it will pursue long-delayed plans to preserve and showcase the historic homes, he said.

“These two historic buildings are rare and irreplaceable evidence of African-American life prior to emancipation and should be considered a site of national significance worthy of protection,” said Brent Leggs of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

It’s going to be a big time for everyone their in Bridgeport community to accept these orders and it can create some disturbance in the communities there.