GARY, Ind. (AP) -- Gary officials are seeking nearly $25 million in federal money to tear down more than 900 abandoned houses and 200 empty commercial buildings in the city.

U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh on Tuesday toured a city neighborhood of boarded-up and fire-scorched houses with Mayor Rudy Clay and a top federal housing official. Bayh said afterward that he would submit a request for money from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Gary Redevelopment Director Vanesse Dabney says local officials want to concentrate demolition efforts in the area between the Indiana Toll Road and Interstate 80-94.

Bayh said he believed the demolition program would help stop deterioration in the city and make more property suitable for development.

Posted 7/1/2009