SCOTLANDVILLE - A long-abandoned property on Curlew Street has finally met its end. For years, the home stood vacant after a tree fell on it, leaving it uninhabitable.

The property at 730 Curlew St. was condemned in October 2023, and became an eyesore in the neighborhood. On Thursday, the building was torn down—thanks to the efforts of Mayor-President "Coach" Sid Edwards.

Mayor Edwards took control of an excavator and began demolishing the house, signaling a fresh start for the neighborhood. 

"You know, it's one of the things we promised when we were running—beautifying Baton Rouge and getting rid of all the blighted properties, trap houses, all the places that don't make our city look good," Mayor Edwards said.

James Riley, a neighbor who has watched the property deteriorate over the years, couldn't hide his joy. "Our community deserves it. Residents of Scotlandville deserve it, and we're actually grateful that we had the first opportunity. The mayor took down the first property," Riley said.

Edwards says a large chunk of his priorities lie within North Baton Rouge because he grew up there. He's not only focused on eliminating blight, but also bringing more resources to the area such as grocery stores and more restaurants, and reducing litter with the newly-formed "Keep Jaguar Nation Beautiful" group of volunteers. 

Residents of Scotlandville like Riley are seeing the beautification efforts firsthand on Thursday.

"I hope it's the start of something amazing here in Scotlandville," Riley said. 

It's not just about physical improvement—it's about improving the overall quality of life.

"Blight leads to crime and vacancy also plays a part in that so trying to eliminate those hazards will drastically improve public safety," Rachael Lambert, City-Parish Development Director, said.

It's unclear what happened between the home's condemnation in October 2023 and its demolition today, but Mayor Edwards said he is focused on working with EBR Metro Councilmembers to expedite the process.

"There's so much going on in City-Parish government. Everybody's busy, everybody's working but I absolutely want to put the pedal to the metal," Mayor Edwards said. "We give people plenty enough time to remedy, to fix, take care of their own business and it's a long process."

Lambert went further to explain the details of getting a condemned home demolished.

"We send out several notices before a property is condemned. They also get a certified mail notice whenever it goes to council in order to get condemned. We post a lot of notices on the structure itself," Lambert said. "The goal isn't for our department to go and tear everything down and pick up all the stuff. We want the property owners to actually bring the properties back into compliance."

While the demolition of this one property is a promising sign, there is still much work to be done. In fact, there are an estimated 5,000 more properties across Baton Rouge in similar states of disrepair. 

"It's way too many and our goal is to get as many down as we can, to clean up this city and it goes along with making it safe as well," Mayor Edwards commented.