Michael Jackson's Childhood Home Gets a Renovation
As you know, the city of Gary this year once again celebrated Michael Jackson's birthday with family members and Michael's children in attendance.
But this year Gary prepared for the celebration in a different way. For several days before the celebration, the sounds of saws and hammers filled the air on Jackson Street 2300.
Michael Jackson's childhood home was undergoing repairs, while at the same time another house nearby was under construction and one more was being renovated. Inmates and volunteer builders were all taking part. Even Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson was wearing a blue "I Love Gary" T-shirt and a special carpenter's apron.
These three houses are located a short distance from one another on the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Jackson Street. The new house is only 30 meters from Michael's childhood home.
It was anticipated that many people would come to the King of Pop's childhood home for Michael Jackson's birthday celebration, and so two nearby houses were prepared to receive and accommodate these guests.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joined her and toured the three homes, all on the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Jackson Street.
"To the extent that we have people visiting, we want to make sure that we have a place that we would want them to visit," she said
Pence inspected the work, hung a piece of siding on the new home, at 2332 Jackson St., then met the pop star's mother, who is in town for the festival, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday. He'd never met Katherine Jackson, and said talking with her as he sat on the sofa in the living room of 2300 Jackson Street was a "pinch me moment." "I said, 'One of the dreams of my life was to meet your son,'" he said. "But this is pretty close."
Gov. Mike Pence hammering siding into place at new home being built down the block from Jackson family homestead. (Credit: Bob Roberts)
The Jackson family is hosting a three-day festival that begins in the morning, on Jackson Street and at adjacent Roosevelt High School, directly in back of the homestead. While Michael Jackson did not attend Roosevelt, his older brothers did.
The Jackson family has rehabilitated their old homestead, on the southwest corner of 23rd Avenue and Jackson Street, and the home next door, at 2306 Jackson. The family has purchased 2312 Jackson and intends to rehab that home as well, Freeman-Wilson said.
The three-day festival will include live music on two stages, a car show, a dance competition and steppers show, a kids' pavilion and a petting zoo. Hours are 12 noon until 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/27/three-day-festival-celebrating-michael-jacksons-birthday-to-start-thursday-in-gary/
As you know, the city of Gary this year once again celebrated Michael Jackson's birthday with family members and Michael's children in attendance.
But this year Gary prepared for the celebration in a different way. For several days before the celebration, the sounds of saws and hammers filled the air on Jackson Street 2300.
Michael Jackson's childhood home was undergoing repairs, while at the same time another house nearby was under construction and one more was being renovated. Inmates and volunteer builders were all taking part. Even Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson was wearing a blue "I Love Gary" T-shirt and a special carpenter's apron.
These three houses are located a short distance from one another on the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Jackson Street. The new house is only 30 meters from Michael's childhood home.
It was anticipated that many people would come to the King of Pop's childhood home for Michael Jackson's birthday celebration, and so two nearby houses were prepared to receive and accommodate these guests.
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence joined her and toured the three homes, all on the 2300 and 2400 blocks of Jackson Street.
"To the extent that we have people visiting, we want to make sure that we have a place that we would want them to visit," she said
Pence inspected the work, hung a piece of siding on the new home, at 2332 Jackson St., then met the pop star's mother, who is in town for the festival, which begins Thursday and runs through Saturday. He'd never met Katherine Jackson, and said talking with her as he sat on the sofa in the living room of 2300 Jackson Street was a "pinch me moment." "I said, 'One of the dreams of my life was to meet your son,'" he said. "But this is pretty close."
Gov. Mike Pence hammering siding into place at new home being built down the block from Jackson family homestead. (Credit: Bob Roberts)
The Jackson family is hosting a three-day festival that begins in the morning, on Jackson Street and at adjacent Roosevelt High School, directly in back of the homestead. While Michael Jackson did not attend Roosevelt, his older brothers did.
The Jackson family has rehabilitated their old homestead, on the southwest corner of 23rd Avenue and Jackson Street, and the home next door, at 2306 Jackson. The family has purchased 2312 Jackson and intends to rehab that home as well, Freeman-Wilson said.
The three-day festival will include live music on two stages, a car show, a dance competition and steppers show, a kids' pavilion and a petting zoo. Hours are 12 noon until 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/27/three-day-festival-celebrating-michael-jacksons-birthday-to-start-thursday-in-gary/