Greensburg marks 9 properties for demolition

The demolition of the house next door can't come soon enough for Bob and Sandy Detar.

"We're all for it, and we wish they would have done it sooner," Sandy Detar said.

The home at 210 S. Washington Ave., Greensburg, has been abandoned for at least six years, Sandy Detar said.

Windows are broken, bushes are growing out of control, and the structure attracts drug users and criminals, who have stolen bicycles, a quad and more from the Detars' garage, Sandy said.

"I put up a notice saying, 'Please stop stealing our stuff' — and as a joke, they went and stole the sign," she said.

The house is one of nine buildings that will be demolished in Greensburg in the coming months.

Greensburg will pay for the demolition with about $135,000 of federal Community Development Block Grant money awarded to the city in 2015 and 2016.

The nine selected buildings are abandoned, and meet the criteria for slums and blight, said Barbara Ciampini, city planning director.

The city will select contractors to handle the demolition Sept. 5, and work is expected to begin soon after.

Eugene Irvin rents an apartment between two West Pittsburgh Street properties slated for destruction.

"It's in shambles," he said of one of the homes. "I don't know if it's fixable, or re-habitable, or what," he said.

He'd like to see investors come in and renovate the buildings, but if that's not an option he'd like to see them removed and replaced with a playground where his daughter can play.

"They've got "X's" on buildings all through Greensburg now," he said, referring to the red "X's " the city recently started using to mark unsafe properties.

Most of the buildings slated for demolition are those the city has previously marked as unsafe.

Most of the properties are still owned privately. Some are owned by the Westmoreland County land bank, and others by financial institutions after foreclosure, Ciampini said.

The city has tax liens on most of them, according to Ciampini.

After the building comes down, the Detars hope to buy the lot next door at a tax auction to extend their yard.

"We do give the city kudos for dealing with this," Sandy Detar said.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646 or jtierney@tribweb.com.