Natividad and Esther Garrido purchased two houses in east Altus to make homes for family members. As the new owner, Mr. Garrido was notified that the properties were under the jurisdiction of the city's Dilapidated Building Commission and had been "condemned and posted-for-demolition." Today, the properties have been renovated and are considered success stories by the city's Dilapidated Building Commission members.

Natividad Garrido first rehabilitated a house at 404 N. Hightower for his parents and the house around the corner at 509 E. Elm for a second brother. A third brother, Abundio Garrido, began renovating a neighboring dilapidated house at 414 N. Hightower -- either for himself or a fourth brother who plans to move to Altus. A fifth brother lives in the Dallas area.

According to City Planning Director Barbara Burleson, the Garrido family compound now covers an entire corner of the block, including a fourth house on the corner, purchased by Garrido's son.

"If it were not for the Garridos, three of the four houses would be demolished. He knew that he could fix them up; a lot of others couldn't see that," Burleson said. "This is an industrious family that said, 'We're going to fix it.'"

The Dilapidated Building and Abandoned Vehicle Commission falls under Mayor T.L. Gramling's New Altus Neighborhoods program, approved by the Altus City Council in July 2001 to ensure that residents maintain the "neighborhood standards" found in the city's codes and ordinances. State statutes give Gramling authority to act on the city council's behalf to deal with dilapidated buildings or nuisances.

Before the Altus City Council approved a Dilapidated Building Commission, citizens receiving condemnation notices came individually before the council to request extensions of time. Now, citizens come before the DBC, composed of Gramling, city Administrator Mike Nettles, Public Works Director Robert Stephenson and Burleson.

After giving the previous owner many time extensions in attempts to rehabilitate the properties, the DBC condemned the houses at 404 N. Hightower and 509 E. Elm in December 2002 and ordered them demolished in March 2003. However, DBC granted the owner's requests for additional time to find a buyer.

Members of the DBC met Natividad Garrido and his daughter Betty (interpreter for her father) in September 2003 after the Garridos purchased both houses for $6,000.

Burleson said the whole porch was falling off at 404 N. Hightower; the interior was just a shell with holes in the floor and extensive wood rot, and the back half of the house was missing. At 509 E. Elm, the house required rebuilding. The properties met all four conditions; any one qualified the property for condemnation: dilapidated and a detriment to the health, safety and welfare of the general public; constituted a fire hazard; constituted a detrimental hazard; and the neighborhood would be benefited by the removal of such conditions.

The DBC approved Garrido's rehabilitation plan for working on both houses simultaneously. He estimated $3,000 for materials on each house, $3,600 for his own labor at 404 N. Hightower and $4,500 at 509 E. Elm. He asked for 22 days to finish one and 23 days for the other.

In September 2004, the DBC removed the 404 N. Hightower property from the dilapidated list and approved renovations at 509 E. Elm in December 2004.

Abundio Garrido also shares his brother's skill at renovation work and purchased the house at 414 N. Hightower for his family. An elderly man (in a nursing home due to an injury) owned the property and intended to return to the house. The DBC received the case in October 2003, but a second man purchased the house with plans to rehabilitate. However, he accomplished very little and sold the house to Abundio, who painted the exterior and continues rehab work on the property.

The Garrido brothers work the night shift at Bar-S Foods Co. Abundio said he spends his mornings working on the house at 414 N. Hightower and sleeps in the afternoons. Referring to the religious pictures on the walls -- even while the house is under renovation -- Abundio's daughter, Christina, said the family attends Prince of Peace Catholic Church. "Our faith plays a big part in all that we do; we pray for everything and before we do anything," she said.

The DBC deals only with vacant and abandoned properties. Burleson said many families move out of town and just leave the property, or the owner dies and the heirs have no financial means to rehabilitate the house and make no attempt to sell it. "The goal of our program is to remove buildings which are a danger to the neighborhood," Burleson said.

First, the Planning Department posts a vacant or abandoned property as a public nuisance and wraps the house with yellow "do-not-cross" tape to secure the building, as required by law. The DBC meets monthly on the first Thursday to review the posted properties and allow the owner to appear and present a plan for the property. The DBC determines whether a property should be condemned or whether it can be rehabilitated. The owner is allowed time to comply with DBC decision and submits a plan to remove or rehabilitate the structure. The building owner has the option to appeal DBC decisions to the city council.

Rehabilitation plans must itemize the proposed improvements to make the house livable, the estimated cost of materials and labor and the time required. DBC approves plans that appear reasonable and reviews the progress with monthly visits. "Our focus is to get families back into the neighborhood; we give everybody an opportunity to say, 'I'm going to fix it up.' If it can't be, then for those families that live in the neighborhood, the city might have to remove the house or put it out on contract and place a lien on the property," Burleson said.

When the city demolishes a structure, crews transport the debris to an abandoned copper mine, a landfill reclamation project near Olustee, to avoid filling the city landfill.

The DBC has tried to avoid situations in which homeowners invest a lot of money in rehabilitation and then walk away without enough funds to complete the job. Recently, a two-story home behind Love's on North Main was removed after the owner was unable to complete the total rehabilitation.

"Most of the time, the houses are in such bad decay that time and money prevent the owner from getting the property into a livable condition; it's heart wrenching at times," Burleson said. "The Garrido properties were in that category; but with their hard work, the neighborhood now has some great new neighbors."

Burleson became city planning director in July 2001. Between July 2001 and June 2005, the DBC posted 143 structures for demolition out of the 419 "other" vacant buildings on the 2000 Census list. The "other" unoccupied buildings listed were not for rent, not rented or sold but not yet occupied, or not used seasonally. Owners removed 42 and rehabilitated 18; the city demolished 43 and continues work on 40.

Altus is among 14 Oklahoma communities that receive annual Community Development Block Grant matching funds--used in previous years for waterline replacement in low- to moderate-income areas. This year, the CDBG application requests funds for removing 29 dilapidated commercial and residential buildings.

In addition to the DBC's annual local appropriation, the city budgeted $40,000 for demolition in 2004-05 and $50,000 in 2005-06. "That's a strong commitment for the city, because in 2002-03 there was zero budgeted," Burleson said.