WECT TV6 - WECT.com - Wilmington, NC news and weather - A Wilmington liquor store is taking doubles
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WILMINGTON -- The biggest ABC store in Wilmington wants to expand, and it plans to take a big gulp out of the surrounding neighborhood.
House after house along 18th Street between Church and Castle Streets are abandoned and wear a no trespassing sign on their doors.
The New Hanover County ABC board owns each of those houses and is planning to knock them down to expand its facility on South 17th Street.
The plan is to double the size of the liquor store.
But, not everyone is toasting the expansion plan.
The houses are located in an area recently added to the Historic Wilmington Foundation's most endangered list. That group is trying to protect the houses and keep them standing.
"I don't like to see a house fall and to think about ten houses falling, a whole block being destroyed, it's horrific," said George Edwards.
Foundation director George Edwards is trying to get the houses protected by the government. He said they could be restored and are a good example of how people lived in Wilmington before World War II.
The ABC board isn't backing off its plan to demolish the houses, but Edwards hopes it's not to late to save them.
Reported by Sarah Warlick
