Westmoreland to kick off blight blitz with Advance Furniture demolition in Greensburg
Dec. 13—A six-story building that housed one of Greensburg's first department stores more than a century ago soon will be only a memory.
It originally featured the J.W. Pollins and Son's dry goods and furniture business and the Galbraith and Jamison grocery store when it opened in 1903 at 221 S. Main St.
The building later was home to a J.C. Penney store and, more recently, Advance Furniture. But it has been vacant and deteriorating since the 1980s and is slated to be demolished this month, at a cost of $270,000, as part of a commitment by Westmoreland County officials to address blight in Greensburg and several other communities.
Officials are inviting the public to help kick off the $10.4 million blight mitigation effort and learn more about it during an event from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Free cookies and hot chocolate will be served during the event at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church parklet, at 246 S. Main across the street from the Advance Furniture building.
After being on the delinquent tax rolls for the better part of a decade, seeing revitalization plans by previous owners come to naught and failing to attract any takers in judicial sales, the building recently was acquired by the Westmoreland County Land Bank.
"It's unfortunate that it's going to meet its demise," said Brian Lawrence, executive director of the county land bank and of the county redevelopment authority, which is overseeing the demolition. "When you lose a building that has contributed so much to the community, it's a sad day. We really did try to do everything we could to save it."
Given the building's advanced state of deterioration and current construction costs, Lawrence said, "Even the deepest-pocketed or most heavily subsidized developer would never be able to recoup their investment."
He said the building is no longer safe to enter, with each of the floors having suffered at least a partial collapse.
According to Lawrence, it tops the list of about a dozen of the most blighted properties in Greensburg. "Knowing that it's off the list is going to remove a lot of headaches for the community," he said. "As for reuse of the property, we're open to a lot of opportunities."
One ideal outcome would be for a responsible developer to acquire the resulting vacant lot from the Land Bank and construct a new building that would create jobs and return the property to the tax rolls.
"Something that would contribute to the tax base would be our first priority," Lawrence said. "Or it could be a community space."
He said there have been some suggestions of making a space available for food trucks or other pop-up installations.
According to city officials, contractor Minniefield Demolition Services is expected to begin work Dec. 17 and should take about four days to reduce the building to rubble. Work will be suspended Dec. 18, so as not to disturb Sunday church services. Removing the resulting debris from the site will be a longer process.
For safety reasons, the sidewalk will be closed in front of the building and an adjacent parking lot during demolition. Traffic lanes in that section of Main Street will be shifted to the west, resulting in closure of on-street parking spaces in front of the former Troutman's store.
In addition to attacking blight in Greensburg, the county redevelopment authority is looking to remove vacant and dilapidated structures in other towns, including Arnold, Jeannette, Monessen, New Kensington, Penn Borough and Vandergrift. The county commissioners agreed to fund that program with a portion of the $105.4 million the county received through the American Rescue Plan covid-relief package approved by Congress in 2021.
"Without the commissioners' support, this would be a very long process," Lawrence said.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .
