A house was torn down on 17th Street today in Louisville, and dozens of Wheatley Elementary School students cheered.The fifth graders had been working for over a year to have the house across from their school condemned and eventually torn down.As fourth graders, they started writing letters to the mayor, explaining why they thought the house they had started calling ‘the dump’ was unsafe and a blight to the neighborhood. Fifth-grader Raven Campbell shared part of her letter.“It’s breaking down our image because every time a person comes to our school, they see ‘the dump’," said Campbell. "Then, they also think Wheatley is a dump, and it is really not.”
The Department of Inspections, Permits and Licenses worked over a year to condemn the house, finally having to take its occupant – who did not own the house – to court.
