SEMINOLE ESTATES: THE FINAL CHAPTERS

Sweet souvenirs from Seminole Estates

The mango trees at Seminole Estates are heavy with fruit but there is barely anyone around to eat it. With mandatory evacuation at the end of June, there are just a few residents left at the once thriving mobile home park in Hollywood, FL. No one feels the desolation quite like Yvonne, the mail lady, who has been delivering mail here for 30 years.

Houses are gone and replaced by piles of jackhammered concrete. Houses are destroyed, reusable parts taken. Houses wait to be moved. Windows are shattered; interiors are ransacked. Air conditioners are long gone; many taken without approval. It's been a bit of a free for all. I've seen workers linger from a job site.

One of many abandoned houses: From the outside

...and from the inside

Another open house.

And another.

I walked into several open houses with mixed emotions. It is interesting what people leave behind - shoes, old photos, a neck brace, and on occasion, the smell of cigarettes. Sometimes when the house is open, I am scared that a raccoon or other animal might be inside. I see many stray cats, and I have heard that there are many other critters around. 

There is still good.

Even though the park has resembled a war zone for months, there's something about this place that is inherently special. It's what the people who decided to move here must have felt. Though Seminole Estates borders the turnpike, it is unusually quiet. Though it's in the heart of South Florida, it is rewarded with breezes and the greenery is lush.  In its hey day, Hollywood Estates (as it was known) had a bustling pool scene. The recreation center had an 8 lane bowling alley. People would convene outside on porches and laugh and drink wine into the night. I hear that the Canadians really knew how to party!

For months, I blogged faithfully about the gradual undoing of the mobile home park. I had hoped that my words would land on sympathetic ears. I had hoped that some local government agency might swoop in and help the people who were extremely challenged by money, health, and age. I hoped that news agencies would find relevant stories here.  A class action had gotten underway, but not everyone in the community even knew about it. The eviction ended an era.

In January, my real work life got busy, plus my aunt said that my blogs felt a little forced. I stopped writing, but still went down to the park every few weeks. Sometimes I'd just walk around by myself. Sometimes I'd meet up with my friend Jamie and we'd take Rambo for a walk. Once I had a semi-date there...romance among the ruins! I was excited that someone I liked was actually interested in my pursuits. During another visit, I naively got in a car with a resident whom I perceived as an informant. I thought I'd get some good scoop to jumpstart the blog. I didn't really leave with much material except several invitations to dinner at the casino.

Then just before Memorial Day, I got an email from Joe. Joe and Kate moved into Hollywood Estates in April 2012. They invested most of their savings into their new home. Before boxes were unpacked, the eviction notice came. Long story short, Joe and Kate set their sights on a community in Pompano Beach. Relocation was handled through the management company of the new community. Joe and Kate were supposed to move back into their relocated home in mid-March but they are still living in a one room apartment in Tamarac. There have been a series of ignored deadlines and a series of insincere promises gone awry. Long story short, Kate has severe rheumatoid arthritis which is exacerbated by stress. And long story short, Kate says, "We just want to go home."

You can see the Hard Rock in the distance.

The relocation effort does not always go as planned. Joe tells me there are other families that are in the same boat. My friend Jamie has been known to wait a long time for crucial call backs. Perhaps some of the companies that are hired to move these homes are overwhelmed but take the jobs anyway. And what ends up happening is that homeowners are draining their savings on temporary accommodations. And still, many homes at Seminole Estates appear to be on the way out.

This is Rambo.

I will go to the park again before it closes for good. As long as my friend is there, I will make a point to visit her and Rambo, and we will have another go at harvesting mangoes.