Work continues on historic building
The gutted interior of the J.H. Ganiear Building in Waynesburg.
The J.H. Ganiear Building in downtown Waynesburg.
WAYNESBURG – The century-old J.H. Ganiear Building on High Street in downtown Waynesburg is just a shell of its former self.
In April, the Greene County Redevelopment Authority demolished the rear two sections of the building and gutted the remaining front section, which had been damaged by years of water leaking through a porous roof.
About two weeks ago, a contractor began the next phase of the authority’s project to preserve the building for its eventual restoration and re-use. The contractor, TBI Contracting of McKeesport, is building three new floors inside the cavernous space formed by the building’s thick exterior walls and covered by its ramshackle roof.
The roof will be replaced after the floor work is completed, which should secure the building from the weather, said David Calvario, the authority’s executive director. They’re hoping that work is completed by the middle of November, he said. The authority then plans to put the building up for sale, as it is, with the hopes of finding someone with the ability to complete the renovation.
The building is more than 100 years old. Information was not available on when exactly it was built, but a picture of the building appears in “Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful” published in 1907.
The building once housed furniture and undertaking businesses and was last the home of Waynesburg Floral.
The authority purchased the property last year for $4,500 at a judicial sale with plans to restore it to provide retail space on the first floor and apartments on the second and third floors.
The building once stretched from High Street all the way back to Cherry Alley but was too large and in too poor of a condition to restore in its entirety, Calvario said.
The rear two sections were demolished in the spring. The flooring in the front section also had to be removed, Calvario said.
“It just wasn’t safe for a person to go in, the second floor had collapsed during the winter,” he said.
The building’s outside walls, however, are in “excellent” condition and are stable and plumb, Calvario said.
The preservation work is being done with grant money from the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Act that is being used by the authority to address blighted properties. The authority obtains dilapidated houses or buildings through donations or by purchasing them at tax or judicial sales. It rehabilitates those that can be rehabilitated and demolishes those beyond repair to make room for new housing.
Houses that are repaired are sold and the proceeds used to cover the costs of the repairs and possibly to make money to purchase and repair additional homes.
The authority had earmarked $265,000 in its grant for the Ganiear Building. So far, it has spent about $320,000 which includes the costs of the new flooring system, Calvario said. It has not yet priced the roof.
The authority will use some of its own money to cover the costs but doesn’t have the means to pay for the full restoration
“That’s just way above us,” Calvario said. “I’d be writing grants seeking money for years to get that done.”
The building will be sold as it is with the new interior floors and a new roof. It will be up to the new owner to add all the interior finishes, including stairs and heating and electrical systems.
The authority, however, hopes someone sees the building’s potential, Calvario said. The building is in an excellent location on High Street and it probably could be restored at less cost than building new, he said.
A couple of people have already contacted him about it, he said, but how serious they are remains to be seen.