Illinois city condemns childhood home of actor Dick Van Dyke

Jul 3, 2015, 3:12 PM

This July 2, 2015 photo shows the childhood home of actor Dick Van Dyke in Danville, Ill. The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports that the 89-year-old actor took to Twitter this week to call attention to the Danville home he and brother Jerry lived in during high school after relocating from Missouri. The star of "Mary Poppins" and television's "The Dick Van Dyke" show recalled the "happy memories drifting around in there" in a tweet to his 85,200 followers. Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said the city didn't know the Van Dyke connection when it condemned the house in December. The property's last owner died in 2011. Eisenhauer expressed a willingness to donate the property as part of a prospective rehabilitation project, should the city eventually gain ownership. (Tracy Moss/News-Gazette via AP)

(Tracy Moss/News-Gazette via AP)

BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

KTAR.com

DANVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The childhood home of actor Dick Van Dyke could be torn down after a central Illinois city condemned the dilapidated building.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette (bit.ly/1HB0pzJ ) reports that the 89-year-old actor took to Twitter this week to call attention to the Danville home he and brother Jerry lived in during high school after relocating from Missouri.

The star of “Mary Poppins” and television’s “The Dick Van Dyke Show” recalled the “happy memories drifting around in there” in a tweet to his 85,200 followers.

Van Dyke told the (Danville) Commercial-News (http://bit.ly/1f9iFpq ) he’d like to know if the home is fixable.

“If it could be fixed maybe we could do something like take a collection up or something,” he said. “Danville is my home and I do still care.”

Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said the city didn’t know the Van Dyke connection when it condemned the house in December. The property’s last owner died in 2011.

Eisenhauer expressed a willingness to donate the property as part of a prospective rehabilitation project, should the city eventually gain ownership.

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This story has been corrected to include the full name of “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com

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