EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – After decades of repeated flooding, an East St. Louis neighborhood will soon get a new look under a flood buyout plan.
Many of the homes in the area are now abandoned, with some families remaining because they say they cannot afford to move. The new buyout plan intends to change that by turning the entire area into a park with trails and athletic fields.
Forty lots on Terrace Drive and adjoining Mary Avenue are part of a $2.6 million buyout plan from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).
The first home you’ll see on that path, which is not part of the plan, belongs to precinct committee woman Kim Shanklin.
“They burning houses up—squatting. I just want to see my precinct come back to life,” Shanklin said.
Past flooding was aggravated by a rundown pump station FOX 2 exposed for years, before it was upgraded in February of this year.
Poor maintenance of Harding ditch has also been a culprit. Politicians recently pledged to keep it clean of debris.
“That’s only a temporary fix. We have a lot more to do,” East St. Louis Councilman Courtney Hoffman II said.
Hoffman said the buyouts are overdue.
“The people here have been suffering for a very long time,” he said.
IDNR said in its buyout plan announcement: “For the first time, this project includes additional funds to assist homeowners who resided in the flooded structures up to $22,500 in additional funds to purchase a home.”
Hoffman wants to make sure homeowners get what they need.
“I am a certified general appraiser myself and I’ve been appraising this region for almost 27 years, and one of my things is to make sure that our citizens are being valued properly,” he said.
People affected can attend a public meeting at East St. Louis City Hall on June 27 at 5:30 p.m. to learn more about the plan and ask questions.
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