Story - The Meade County Messenger


Vol. 119. No.26	JUNE 30 , 2010

Abandoned Parkway Terrace house owned by Dr. Shores demolished

It only took nearly 13 years, a lawsuit, one large bulldozer, a small Cat, and four huge dumpsters, but the abandoned property/nuisance at 356 Parkway Terrace has finally been resolved.

In the end, it only took a few hours July 8 to tear down the eyesore owned by Dr. William Shores, Lexington.
The lawsuit against him, filed by the city of Brandenburg, was scheduled to finally be heard in circuit court July 12 – prompting the swift tear-down.

“We put a lot of pressure on Dr. Shores to get this done and taken care of and we were finally able to get him to enter into a contract,” said Brandenburg City Attorney Darren Sipes.

The hearing had been postponed at least once, with the original court date scheduled for May 3.

Gerry Russell, who lives next door, said the property has been abandoned and deteriorating since he moved there in 2004.

In February, he told the Messenger “I can’t begin to tell you how many mice we have coming here. Over the years it must be hundreds, it’s almost daily our cat catches one.”

He and his wife, Karen, added that snakes were also a concern and during windstorms, pieces of the crumbing structure’s roof blew off.

As the construction crew cleared what remained of the ramshackle, Russell explained that things didn’t improve after February.

“Usually following the winter, when things got warmer, the mice would slow down a little but not this year. Now that this is demolished, I imagine the mice will get really bad for awhile since they’re all stirred up,” he explained.
Watching the structure was rewarding, though.

“It’s definitely a good day,” said Russell. “It took way too long, but it is a good day.”
According to Mayor David Pace, the abandoned property has probably sat empty through two or three city administrations.

The Russells said they spoke with Shore the evening prior to the demolition, when he came to view the residence a final time.

“We talked to the guy last night, and though I do understand that this was his childhood home – and it was hard for him to see it go – I told him that I’m the last person to ever complain. This got to be too much to stand, though,” said Russell. “What I don’t understand is there were 1000’s of books in there. There were trophies in there of the prized dogs they had shown. Yet, they didn’t take anything from it. Not one thing. It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Shore could not be reached for comment, and it is unclear what will become of the vacant lot now.

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