SIOUX CITY -- Where many people saw only a once-magnificent house deteriorating and falling apart, Kent Martin saw a jewel in the rough.

Soon his dream will become reality as he puts his heart, hands and money into renovating a red-tagged house at 2524 E. Solway Drive in the upscale Heights neighborhood.

"I have a talent of having a vision to see what can be done," Martin, a biology teacher at West High School, said of the house, built in 1936. "It was due to be torn down within two days of when I got it. I entered the ballgame at the 11th hour."

He noted he had renovated two houses while living in California so was up for the task.

Martin's journey to save and renovate a red-tagged house isn't rare, but it is difficult to save a home the city has declared unfit for occupancy, Terry Nelson, inspection services manager for the city, acknowledged..

The renovations often carry a hefty price tag, which can scare away potential developers. In many cases those who want to save the houses are unable to obtain ownership.

"The Solway house is a good example of one that could be saved," Nelson said.

In September, the City Council declared the house unfit for occupancy and ordered it to be demolished by a private contractor. The house, owned by a Brookings, S.D., couple, had not been lived in for at least 20 years. Over  time, the roof developed a leak and the building and yard deteriorated through neglect.

Neighbors reported seeing rats run out of the house, Dan Dykstra, who can see the home from his backyard, said.

Martin said he had tried to buy the house earlier but that the owners refused to sell it until about three weeks ago.

Martin told the City Council he had retained architect Dale McKinney of M+ Architecture of Sioux City to inspect the home to determine whether it was structurally sound. At its Oct. 26 meeting, after hearing from McKinney that the house had passed that inspection, the council granted Martin a 90-day extension to bring the house, including the electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, into compliance with the city's building code.

Every afternoon when he leaves West High, Martin drives over to help contractors renovate the Art Moderne-style house.

"We put a new roof on it. The guys are patching up the stucco outside,” Martin said. “There was a lot of rotten wood and mold we ripped out. We've had it for three weeks and we've probably done 70 percent of the work."

Neighbors 'pleased'

Dykstra, a Sioux City attorney, said, "The people I've talked to are very pleased the house not only is going to be saved but that what was clearly a health hazard to the neighborhood is being addressed. He's very dedicated. I was outside with my dog one night and saw the lights, and the entire east wall was missing, and now it's back up."

The home was designed by Knute Westerlind, a native of Sweden who moved to Chicago and then Sioux City in 1919. Westerlind also designed the Sioux City Auditorium, the Badgerow Building, Midland Packing, a number of large apartments and St. John and St. Paul's Lutheran churches, according to information compiled by the city Historic Preservation Commission.

Martin, who plans to live in the house, found some unusual pottery inside and discovered original murals on the basement ceiling. Raymond Katz painted the murals as part of a Works Progress Administration art project during the Great Depression.

Rad-tagged homes' effect far-reaching

A red-tagged building makes an impression that reaches beyond its own property boundaries. Prospective buyers looking at nearby homes in good condition can be scared off by a dilapidated house down the block.

"You can see them in neighborhoods that are basically strong, too," Marge Dezell, president of the Greater Siouxland Board of Realtors, said of red-tagged homes. "These are not limited to a particular area."

No one wants to move in next door to a house that is falling apart, has been left open for vandals and has become home to vermin. Aside from posing safety and health risks, property in such condition can drag down the value of surrounding homes.

"It certainly would have a negative effect on their (property) values," City Assessor Al Jordan said. "Eventually, it might reflect in the value of the other homes."

State law requires Jordan’s office to reassess property every two years. The exact impact a red-tagged structure would have on its neighborhood "would be on a case-by-case basis," Jordan said. "It's a gradual spread."

"We've got to get the houses off the red-tagged list and get them back on the market," said Jim Jung, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission. "This problem is bigger than just preservation. It has to do with keeping our inner city homes."

No simple answers

Apprehension about potentially costly repairs can be a stumbling block to getting private developers to buy red-tagged properties, according to Dezell.

"Once a property is red-tagged, then the house has to be fixed to meet city code on everything," she said. "Sometimes it isn't always that big a deal that causes them to be red-tagged. It can scare people off."

Cathy Olson, the city’s community development director, said neighborhoods in the inner city are starting to look scarred by the demolition of single-family homes, duplexes and apartments, some of which have historical significance.

Bill Himes, president of the Neighborhood Network, said many residents would agree to giving a property owner six months to fix up a red-tagged house instead of the usual 90 days if that would save the property from demolition.

A larger issue, he said, is finding a way to keep the placarded property from deteriorating in the interim -- from mowing the grass and shoveling snow to keeping vandals and critters out.

City officials are also concerned about foreclosures that have left apartments and houses vacant and deteriorating, the City Council has asked that a committee be formed to work on ways to address that issue..

A small city group has met several times, Olson said.

"We're trying to add the stakeholders as we go along. We have brainstormed some ideas but don't yet know which ones will be realistic," she said.

The committee, called the Housing Preservation and Development Group, will add representatives of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, developers, representatives of the Neighborhood Network and real estate specialists to try to craft a communitywide response.

The city doesn't want to get involved in the renovation and property management business, Olson said.