Tearing down of vacant stamping plant in Detroit among thousands of properties slated for demolition

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The city has identified several thousand properties in Detroit that will be demolished by the end of next year.

One blighted eyesore they won't need to worry about anymore is the old stamping factory on Detroit's east side. Located on Hoover and E. State Fair, it's been vacant for over a decade.

But on Thursday, city officials began the process of demolishing the factory. It's a welcome sight to many that live in the area.

"They’ve been needed to tear it down," said David Ware, a resident in Detroit. "With all those illegal activities, like illegal dumping and maybe some drug activity over there, who knows."

Nearby residents certainly know. 

"There’s a lot of trash and garbage and stuff over. It was really terrible," said Sandra Addrow, one disgruntled resident fed up with the blight.

Even behind the old plant were eerie sights.

"It’s also not a scary because it can be pretty scary to travel these streets," said April Hill, another upset resident.

The demolition is part of a larger project by Detroit's construction department to root out blight. Aided with American Rescue Plan money, LaJuan Counts of the city is as ready as thousands of others to see the vacancies restored to productive lands.

"This property has been blighted for over 10 years. We were motivated to take this property down as quickly as we could," said Counts. "We have currently identified over 8,000 residential properties that need to come down, and we are a little over 4,000 properties down."

That includes 300 commercial properties.

As for what will replace the old stamping plant, that's still up for debate.