Feb 12, 2016 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Washington County Redevelopment Authority is undertaking environmental assessments on three blighted properties in Charleroi, including the historic Coyle Theater, as efforts are underway to redevelop the sites.

The authority also will assess the former Charleroi Area School District football stadium and the Atlas Building, both of which are still owned by the school district, said Susan L. Morgan, a brownfields and municipal planning manager at the authority.

Phase I of the project involves a walkthrough of the properties to look for signs of asbestos and lead at a cost of about $3,500. Phase II will involve laboratory tests on evidence of contaminants in the buildings.

Morgan discussed the work during a meeting Thursday with Charleroi Council and the Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association, which has taken over management of the stalled Coyle Theater restoration project and intends to purchase and redevelop the site in the 300 block of McKean Avenue.

“The goal is to create jobs,” MIDA President John LaCarte said.

“I’m not against historic preservation, but there has to be a balance,” he said.

The MIDA/Coyle project remains in limbo after two former members of the trust who managed the Coyle sued the trust board in Washington County Court in an effort to halt the sale. The lawsuit claims Mid Mon Valley Cultural Trust is a charity and cannot sell its assets to a nonprofit that isn’t a charitable organization.

The school district is still discussing what to do with the stadium on Hussey Street and the vacant Atlas Building at Second Street and McKean Avenue, district Superintendent Ed Zelich said Friday.

Zelich said the school board is expected to hear a proposal at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday from one of the interested buyers of the real estate. He also said the district received a brownfields grant to help pay for the assessments.

“We have folks interested in purchasing the properties, and we are evaluating which one fits our district,” Zelich said.