HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hendersonville is launching a new grant program that offers property owners up to $13,000 to help demolish vacant buildings, while giving police and firefighters a place to train before the structures come down.
Vacant buildings can sit for years when demolition costs stand in the way. The new program is designed to give property owners a financial incentive to move those properties toward a new future.
"At the end of the day that's $13,000 that they're not getting, and that might be for some of the building owners that might be the difference between demolishing an empty building or leaving an empty building," Mayor Jamie Clary said.
In exchange, Clary said police and firefighters could spend time training inside the buildings before demolition. That could mean practicing with smoke, entering locked buildings and searching for people inside.
"To have an actual building where we can have scenarios or have opportunities that we usually don't have, that would be huge for both our fire and police," Clary said.
The city says the program is voluntary. Clary said they plan to approach owners of old buildings or houses that have been sitting empty for a long time or have a history of code violations.
"We want people when they come into Hendersonville to know that we have higher expectations because we do," Clary said.
The grant is funded by the city and budgeted for the current fiscal year, which ends in June. The amount awarded will depend on the building and how much training crews can get out of it. Property owners would still be responsible for demolishing the building.
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