See his website for details.
Ken Karl told me yesterday he's aiming for justice from city officials that he believes tore down an important Main Street home without cause.
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
29 comments:
Hey Stephen , please tell Ken to post a site here so honest americans can contribute to his cause .
This could very well be the first step taken to stop the gestapo from advancing further in Bristol .
If you click on the "See his website" at the beginning of my post, it will take you to Ken Karl's site.
.....if Karl had made an ernest attempt to stand by his word and do something with the structure, other than having it serve as a neighborhood eyesore, he wouldn't have to cry and try to convince others to be taken-in to support him - not being able to get a lawyer to represent him doesn't bolster his argument very much. Maybe he should think about making an honest living rather than bilking everyone through smoke screens.
...Bristol should be suing Ken Karl for destroying whatever historical value the property may have once had and then leaving it as an ugly and very dangerous eyesore...
...10:30 is right! We must stand up to the gestapo before they begin to tear down or renovate all the blighted properties in Bristol. I mean, where would all those "honest american" hookers, junkies and drug dealers go if we clean up the city?!!!...( ! )
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where would all those "honest american" hookers, junkies and drug dealers go if we clean up the city?!!!..
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FINALLY !!!!!!! Someone expressing the truth .
Your racism is showing through the blight smoke screen .
...more like you're trying to play the racism card to smoke screen your slumlord mentality...
The issue here is about Historic value. Yes the original structure is old and had a legacy. But did the building as it existing on the day it was torn down have any real Historic value?
The building had been renovated some many times over the years and the items that might have given it some value from an archetural point of view long been removed or replaced that what you ended up in the end was an old unsafe structure ready to fall in on itself.
Ken Karl may have had good intentions of restoring the building but he was way in over his head this law suit has nothing to stand on.
If anyone breached the contract it was him.
He had been warned about the action that eventually took place in the interest of the public. This would have been a different story had Bristol done nothing and someone had been hurt there.
So when we speak of historic value let's not cloud the issue.
I would like to see photos of the house at the time it was demolished and copies of the blueprit plans Mr Karl had. I really can't make an honest assessment of who was in the wrong here if I can't see both sides of the story.
.....I'm sure that Mr. Karl would have/could/should have done that himself if he were to be taken seriously about not using/abusing the city, Even looks as though he is having trouble lining up a lawyer to represent him, which is almost unheard of in the legal circles.
Mr. Karl's attempt at legal action seems to be as misguided as his attempt at restoring the house in questions. His first complaint with the city over breach of contract is ridiculous simply because city water and sewer cannot be hooked up to a house sitting on blocks.
Also, one has to wonder what happened to the funds that were obtained through the construction mortgage that he took out in March 2007. They were definitely not put into the house. I drove by it at least twice everyday and have never seen anyone there working on the structure and did not see any evidence of construction since some of the siding was replaced quite a while ago.
It sounds like Mr. Karl need to just suck it up and realize that he had an opportunity he did not act on and chalk it up as a loss. And yes I am a private citizen and no I am not employed by the city government.
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I am a private citizen and no I am not employed by the city government
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hey Dan ..... I don't believe anyone said that ONLY city employees were racist .
I (Ken Karl)would like to try to answer some of the comments if I can. I realize that some of this is controversial, so please bear with me if I seem one-sided in my comments.
2/2/08 10:31 I was trying very hard to keep my "real" contract with the city, which was to create a public-private partnership to find a non-profit use for the building. The RFP that started this all ( RFP 2003-100 April 9,2003) REQUIRED that my proposal (about fifty pages long) become a part of the contract with the city. It did not have to be a museum, per se, but the Bristol Old Time Fiddlers expressed an interest and it certainly seemed like they should be given a reasonable shot at it. For their part, the City turned down every request we made that would have made that possible. This was never meant to be a single family house moved to the other side of the street and put into private ownership.
02/02/08 5:20
When it was decided that the building was to become a museum, it was neccessary to make the house strong enough to support 100 pounds per square foot of load. The average house must only support 40lbs/sq.ft I was in the house 2 days before its supposed "catastrophic failure" and it was as safe as ever.
02/03/08 11/20
I did a FOI request for all matters relating to the inspection that determined that there was a catastrophic failure. The CBO only sent me a letter he sent to the firm that did the work. I would love to see anything, photos, inspections, etc., that anyone at all may have or have seen. I will be glad to show the plans to anyone that has an interest. Or, better yet, go to city hall and see all 5 building permit applications from the last 3 months.
Dan: The house was taken off blocks and put on a foundation in early 05. In May 07 I asked the city to install the long delayed city water & city sewer. Their reply was that I had to apply for permits. When I went to the proper departments for the permits, they refused to give them to me, saying the installing contractors had to apply.
Thank you for your interest
Ken Karl
Racist? Gestapo? Come on! This action was not racist or a gestapo tactic.
Please get the facts on this deal.
Do some real research and try to offer an intellegent opinion.
Ken, sounds like the same type of smoke and mirrors that you used to blind the city since the inception of this boondoggle/
Ken Karl,
All you did was add another blighted property to our city. This is just another Nicastro mess he has left for our city!
I'm looking forward to your lawsuit so everything can come out! How much the building dept. worked with you and yet you did nothing!
I especially liked the quote that you didn't think the building dept. was serious! That's the problem....all you did was drag this out!
NOW slumlords will see how "serious" the city is in fighting blight!
I'm certain the gestapo thought they were doing good in the 40's europe , same as the blightmongers are doing in bristol today .
Let's find an 'evil' and use any means necessary to correct it . It didn't work out too well for adolph so , be careful .
...Comparing our city's "blight mongers" to Adolf Hitler is more than a just a little far-fetched. Evil is in the eye of the beholder. Decrepit buildings with thigh high grass, broken windows and rotting exteriors are more than just an eyesore...they're dangerous. Letting the slumlords who own them leave them that way is EVIL...
The city keeps talking about blight and how they want the city cleaned up but on one of our main streets, (North St.) there is a makesift house surrounded by shopping carts , bedding and a makeshift roof. A man lives there and sleeps there every day. People traveling through our city have to look at that as they drive by and stop for the traffic light.
I think the city should find out who the property owner is and get that cleaned up!!!! There so busy talking about houses on Summer St., a street that few travel but their not concerned about a main road where thousands travel every day. Take care of this then pat yourselves on the back.
February 4, 2008 2:50 Poster,
Please stop insulting everyone with your comparisons to the Gestapo and Hitler.
You add no value to the discussion.
February 4, 2008 2:50 PM,
Spoken like a true slum lord. Put the blame on others and hide behind some notion that big brother is evil...
Get a real life....
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Please stop insulting everyone with your comparisons to the Gestapo and Hitler.
February 4, 2008 7:20 PM
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Tell your leaders to stop using gestapo tactics to get what they want .
Bristol even opened a website so the 'selected' can inform on the 'unwanted' just like the Nazi's did w/ the 'unwanted' in Germany .
Sounds like a plan to me!
...10:29, Enough with the Nazis already! The gestapo rounded up the "unwanted" and did the unthinkable. The city wants to round up the tall grass and cut it, round up the junked cars and tow them, round up the garbage and pick it up, round up the broken windows, rotting shingles, roofs, stairs, etc, etc and fix em up or tear em down...that's a far cry from your ridiculous comparison to the Nazis so please ENOUGH ALREADY!
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The city wants to round up the tall grass and cut it, round up the junked cars and tow them, round up the garbage and pick it up, round up the broken windows, rotting shingles, roofs, stairs,
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So .... when they cut the grass around Ken Karls' house the mower got away from them ???
Show me the court order that gave the Bristol Gestapo the RIGHT to tear down the historic home that was under rennovations and I may ease up a bit .
The city had not only a RIGHT but a DUTY to take down that death trap.
"They came for the tall grass and I didn't speak up because I didn't have tall grass. Then they came for the junk cars and I didn't speak up because I didn't have any junk cars. Then they came for us slum lords and there was no one left to speak up for me!"
You slumlords are sooooooooo overdramatic!
... I have a friend who lives right near where Ken Karl was working. Every time I went to visit my friend, I saw Ken Karl working on the site. He seemed very motivated and wished to restore the building to the best of his abilities. I have heard through many reliable sources that he has been a contractor for much of his career. When thinking about many historical sites in the past, I will admit that many of these sites are not the most attractive but they are still valuable to history. I do not think that Ken should be attacked because he was trying to restore what he and many others believe to be a historical site. Although cliche, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I also think that Bristol as well as the general public should be concerned with cleaning up the streets and instead of knocking down the building, allowed and kenneth to complete his job and use the site....
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