Atlas building to be razed
A large section of the facade of the Atlas building in Charleroi collapsed onto the sidewalk at McKean Avenue and Second Street.
Roof damage at the Atlas building in Charleroi is shown in this photo taken through use of a drone by students from Charleroi Area High School.
Charleroi Area High School students used a drone to get this photo of damage to the roof of the Atlas building.
Washington County Redevelopment Authority must enlighten Charleroi residents about protecting the borough’s historic district in order to secure approval for demolition of a large, crumbling building in the downtown.
The stipulation and others are included in an agreement the authority reached last week with the state Historical and Museum Commission through a mandatory consulting process required by federal law under the borough’s designation on the National Register of Historic Districts.
“I think what we came up with in the compromise will have some good impacts in Charleroi,” said Nathan Voytek, a community development specialist with the authority who is managing the Atlas building demolition project in the borough.
The authority was required to consult with the PHMC’s office of historic preservation because it has earmarked $100,000 in federal funding to demolish the building, whose roof has collapsed, creating a public safety hazard. Charleroi Area School District owns the property, and it has a tentative agreement to sell the property, along with the nearby old football stadium, to Mon Valley Alliance.
Voytek said the authority will advertise this week for proposals from engineers who might be interested in overseeing the demolition work.
The agreement with the PHMC requires the authority to hire an engineer to minimize potential damages to neighboring properties. It also requires the authority to schedule a seminar in the Mon Valley to present the “economic and community development benefits of historic preservation,” the agreement states.
It also requires the borough to continue to set aside at least $75,000 a year from its federal community development block grant funds for the next three years for housing rehabilitation and maintenance.
The borough and authority also must develop a “resource for renovation” document that provides a list of grants and loans available to property owners for the upkeep of their buildings, and post it and similar information on the borough’s website.
Charleroi was added to the National Register in 2007 because of its variety of architectural styles dating to 1875, including a large number of small, two-story houses built for workers at a glass factory.