HARRISON TOWNSHIP — For years people have complained about an eye-sore property in Harrison Township, and now it’s finally coming down.
The property that use to house the Harem Nightclub, located at 5825 N. Dixie Drive, was scheduled to be demolished at 9 a.m. on Friday.
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The township declared the building as a dangerous and nuisance property.
Cherie Adams brought her grandkids to see the demolition happen, something she said she was glad to see finally happen.
“It’s just there and somebody is gonna get hurt eventually,” Adams said.
The nightclub last operated there in 2017 and then was heavily damaged by a fire in September 2020.
The township has been working since 2021 to get it torn down.
“It’s taken us a long time to get to this point, but we’re all very excited to see this come down,” said Emily Crow, Development Director for Harrison Township.
Once through the lengthy legal process, the township got a grant from the state to cover the majority of the estimated 50 thousand dollars it costs to demolish it.
“We had to make sure that all of our I’s were dotted and T’s were crossed exactly as we needed to to follow and qualify for those grants,” Crow said.
Next their focus is on filling the space.
“We would definitely like to see a partnership here where we can bring something back in with the community,” Crow said.
Something Adams wants to see too, and she’s not picky.
A grocery store even I don’t know just something that’s not an empty building.
It was a years-long process to actually get the building torn down. The township says it’ll also take a couple of years before you see anything new in its place, but they are focused on partnering with someone to develop the property.