Westmoreland officials kick off effort to target blight at Greensburg building set for demolition

Dec. 14—It was a bittersweet moment for local officials Tuesday as they contemplated the impending demolition of a 119-year-old building on Greensburg's South Main Street.

"I'm a bit torn, a bit heartbroken," said Brian Lawrence, executive director of the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority, as he stood across the street from the former Advance Furniture building.

Lawrence, whose agency is overseeing the demolition of the dilapidated six-story building, was among officials on hand to kick off a $10.4 million county program aimed at clearing away 500 blighted properties in Greensburg and six other communities.

"It was one of the first buildings built with an internal steel structure, and it was one of the tallest for its time," Lawrence said of the edifice at 221 S. Main St., which housed several retail establishments through the years.

Greensburg Mayor Robb Bell recalled shopping there for clothes as a schoolkid, when J.C. Penney occupied the building.

"It's gotten to the point now where it's become a safety hazard and it needs to, unfortunately, go away," Bell said.

He said the city worked with various owners for more than a decade on plans for redeveloping the structure, but nothing came to fruition.

"We have waived tens of thousands of dollars in tax liens just trying to entice developers to come in and develop that property," Bell said. That's not counting the many man-hours spent on engineering studies and code inspections, he said.

Firefighters also have responded to multiple calls at the address through the years, since the building last was occupied in the 1980s.

While it once contributed to the community, housing businesses that provided needed services and jobs, the building has become an obstacle to efforts for rebuilding Greensburg's downtown business district.

"This is a new beginning for the city of Greensburg in our redevelopment initiative," Bell said of the slated demolition.

Minniefield Demolition Services, which has been contracted to raze the building, had a large excavator in place Tuesday. Work is slated to begin on Saturday and is expected to take three or four days.

An alley behind the building will be closed during the demolition, but a lane shift will allow a continued flow of traffic along Main Street in front of the building.

The $270,000 demolition cost will be covered under the $10.4 million portion of the county's American Rescue Plan allotment that the county commissioners earmarked for blight mitigation.

Lawrence said the program already razed a blighted building in Monessen.

Over the next five years, the redevelopment authority plans to target additional blighted properties in New Kensington, Arnold, Vandergrift Jeannette, Penn Borough, as well as others in Greensburg and Monessen.

Of those properties, the Advance Furniture building and 29 others have been acquired by the Westmoreland County Land Bank, which Lawrence also heads. Among that number, he said, 14 are under contract for demolition and four others are being prepared for bidding.

"Our goal is to clear out the dead weight that holds so many of our main streets and neighborhoods back," Lawrence said. "Our goal is to enliven them with a sense of hope."

He said the communities selected for inclusion in the blight mitigation all have been hard-hit by "years of de-industrialization and decades of economic restructuring."

"This is about strengthening our communities so we can have Westmoreland County become stronger altogether," said Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes.

Commissioner Doug Chew cited studies indicating that blight in communities can contribute to crime and to depression among residents.

"Removing blight removes the places that crime can hide," he said, noting that "removing blight can be a reason that uplifts people.

"There's a lot we can do with the blight in these communities that will improve the mental health and the well-being of the people who live there."

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .