By NICK WERNER
nwerner@muncie.gannett.com
rg lnlMUNCIE — Charles Workman scares people at a Halloween haunted house, sometimes even with a chainsaw.
But as good as the haunted house is, it pales in comparison to the dump at 806 W. Fifth St., which is next door to Workman’s own home, he said.
The windows are broken.
The roof is caving.
And the side door is swung open, revealing a kitchen with dusty cabinets and crooked floors covered in broken china.
Put the home at 806 W. Fifth St. in some foggy, isolated forest and you definitely have the makings of a horror movie.
“I’d like to see it torn down real quick,” Workman said.
If things go well, Workman might get his wish.
According to Gretchen Cheesman, administrator of the city’s Unsafe Building Hearing Authority, the city has decided to tear the house down and has awarded the demolition contract to Steven W. Shroyer Excavating out of Selma.
Shroyer told The Star Press he expected to demolish the home within about three weeks.
Demolition is expected to cost about $4,000 and the home’s owner Virgil Wildrick Jr., who now lives in Michigan, has agreed to pay the cost, Cheesman said.
The city expects to tear down a record 100 or more abandoned houses this year thanks to financial help from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.
— This story is part of a weekly series looking at blighted properties around Muncie. To suggest a property for the series, e-mail the address and a brief description to blightwatch@muncie.gannett.com or mail it to The Star Press, Local News Desk, P.0. Box 2408, Muncie, Ind. 47307.

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