Demolition began on Antioch Road, as the first of many homes in that area that will be torn down.

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert, along with two members of council (Louis F. Tompkins & Larry Schlesinger) were joined by city employees for the second demolition kick off this year.

It is a part of the 5x5x5 program to make local neighborhoods safe. Residents on Antioch say they hope it works.

"It will be less rats and less roaches. We don't have to worry about snakes." says Ashley, a resident near the area of the demolition.

Ashley lives on the street behind the demolition sight with her son and believes now he can play safely. "Yes so my little boy can play on his trampoline." she adds.

The goals of the program are to build the community and to create safety in every neighborhood, getting rid of eye sores and beautifying forgotten areas of the city.

"One of the things that we constantly get calls about is just the overall appearance of our community." Internal Affairs Director Keith Moffett says imitativeness like the 5x5x5 will get rid of several abandoned buildings in the community he says that it’s a part of a beautification program to partner with different people in the community like churches and community organizations. “So we are trying to work with other community organizations like Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful, the Shalom Zone, the faith based community in just helping beautify the surrounding community." says Moffett.

The City of Macon is approaching the program little by little by demolishing homes in a five block radius five weeks at a time, relieving residents of dangerous situations, like abandon buildings, near their homes.

Ashley shares her final thoughts about the abandoned building that used to be on Antioch Road, "It was disgusting."

During Mayor Reichert time in office, The City of Macon has torn down more than 400 abandon homes. This week there will be four more units demolished in the area and cleaned up throughout the week.