Former 'Banshee' sheriff's building empty, with few signs of the show remaining

On television, it's a fully functioning sheriff's department, complete with an armory, holding cells and bulletproof windows.

In reality, the Vandergrift building that housed the fictional Banshee Sheriff's Department is little more than an empty shell — one that its owner hopes someone will see as an opportunity.

The Vandergrift Improvement Program owns the building at 134 Grant Ave., perhaps best remembered for once being a JCPenney store. Last summer, it served as a principal location for the Cinemax TV series “Banshee,” which was filmed in the borough and other areas in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

After filming in North Carolina for the show's first three seasons, the production moved to the Pittsburgh area to use the state's tax incentive. But after the decision to end the series was made, the building was cleared out, and many of the show's props and property were sold off.

VIP President Julia Martin said the group has owned the building since around the time of its inception, more than 10 years, she guessed.

She said the production spent more than $500,000 cleaning up the long-vacant building and making it usable for the show, including removing asbestos and rotting wood and fixing the roof.

With volunteers and not enough money, “it would've taken forever” for the program to have done the rehab, she said.

“They did a lot of work,” Martin said. “It is a good, clean building, but it's very basic. Some of the things they did were just cosmetic and pretend.”

Only a couple of signs of the show remain — on the front doors, a warning that all people entering are subject to search; inside, the lettering “Sheriff” and a character's name, “B. Lotus,” on the door to the sheriff's office.

The desks, the jail cells, even a large mural, are all gone.

“Anything that could've told you, for sure, what was there was taken,” Martin said. “They took anything that identified it as ‘Banshee.' ”

The building has basic electric, but there's no plumbing, heating or air conditioning.

“There are a lot of things that would need to be done to make it usable,” Martin said.

Borough Council President Brian Carricato said he'd like to see a retail business or restaurant move into the space.

“We'd like to see something that would benefit the town,” he said, calling what was done to the building “a blessing,” even though the production left sooner than many hoped.

“Getting it cleaned was the halfway point,” he said. “Now it's a blank canvas.”

Martin said the VIP is open to options, including renting or selling the building.

What the building is missing, such as restrooms, limits what even the VIP can use it for.

During last year's Christmas parade, with Santa and vendors set up inside, was the only time the building has been open to the public since the show left town. It may be used during a car cruise in June.

“We're trying to figure out what the basics are that we need to get a starting point, and start looking to see are there even any grants available to help us do some of the basics to do anything with it,” Martin said.

Zach Albert, a salesman at nearby Tees-N-Tops, said it would be nice to see the building turned into another storefront.

“It wouldn't take too much to turn it into another retail shop,” he said. “Anything to get people coming into town.”

Before “Banshee,” the building was in “horrible” shape, Albert said. “It was nice to see it being used for a while,” he said.

Seeing Vandergrift on TV has been a treat.

“They make Vandergrift look amazing,” Albert said. “It's really cool.”

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701 or at brittmeyer@tribweb.com.