Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and Bill Pulte of Pulte Group have committed to funding the demolition of abandoned buildings in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The effort, called the St. Louis Blight Authority, adds a major philanthropic commitment to one of Mayor Lyda Krewson’s top initiatives and formally kicks off Friday in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood of north St. Louis.
Demolition of houses in the four-block target area is already underway, but the goal is to completely clear and clean about 150 lots there over the next 20 days, Pulte said. Landscaping specialists will plant flowers and beautify the remaining lots in a way that’s easy for residents to maintain.
“We don’t want trash on the ground, we don’t want one little receipt from CVS,” he said. “That’s how you solve this blight problem, is you get rid of all the trash and debris and everything else. If you just go and knock down these structures, you don’t get rid of the cancer.”
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