Aretha Franklin Birth Home In Danger Of Being Demolished

A Shelby County Environmental Court order on Thursday put the deteriorating home into a city receivership with an order to demolish as soon as possible, The Commercial Appeal reported.

“Nobody wants to tear it down, but also it can’t stay like it’s been, without being secured or maintained, forever,” said Steve Barlow, a staff attorney for the City of Memphis and a leader of the nonprofit Neighborhood Preservation, Inc.

The house was certified a public nuisance in 2012. The front of the small home is currently secured, but the left side is sagging and a roof has collapsed.

Vera L. House, the listed owner of the home, said she turned over the house to the courts to try to preserve it, but said the courts have waited so long that the home is now on the verge of collapsing.

Barlow said there is still time to save the home. He said he’s interested in exploring credible alternatives to demolition and added that unless someone comes up with a clear plan, the city will have no choice but to demolish the home.

Franklin was born in the front of the house on March 25, 1942. She lived there for two years.