DIY Network bosses poised to save Aretha Franklin’s childhood home

The Memphis, Tennessee house Aretha Franklin called home as a child is poised for a makeover from experts at America’s DIY Network.
The Soulsville area pad, where the Queen of Soul was born in 1942, has been boarded up and left empty for years, and Shelby County Environmental Court Judge Larry Potter previously ordered that it be demolished.
However, the ruling was put on hold last year (16) as preservationists worked to stabilise the crumbling home and save it from destruction.
Jeffrey Higgs, president of the LeMoyne-Owen College Community Development Corporation, who has been placed in charge of the property, has revealed executives at the DIY Network have been in touch and are interested in helping to restore the place and possibly relocate it to a safer neighbourhood in a bid to attract more visitors.
A timeline for the project has yet to be revealed, but the news has been welcomed by Judge Potter, reports Billboard.com.
“I would like to see this house saved,” he said during a hearing on Thursday (23Feb17). “I want to see it in a secure location.”
Aretha only lived in the property for two years, before her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she still lives today.