Actor Van Dyke’s Childhood Home On Condemned List
In this Dec. 9, 2013 file photo, Dick Van Dyke arrives at the U.S. premiere of "Saving Mr. Banks" at Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif. Van Dyke's childhood home could be torn down after the city condemned the dilapidated building in Danville. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
The community of Danville, which likes to remind visitors that Dick Van Dyke grew up there, may be losing the house where the famous entertainer once lived.
The 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.
Before the city can do anything, it must take possession of the house that was last owned by someone who died in 2011. Eisenhauer says if the city does gain possession, it could donate the house to someone interested in renovating it.