Crew begins to raze Atlas building in Charleroi
A crew Monday prepares the Atlas building at Second Street and McKean Avenue in Charleroi for demolition.
The 136 McKean Ave. home of Debbie and Rick McGavitt in Charleroi has been evacuated because of its proximity to the Atlas building, left, which is being demolished.
CHARLEROI – A house is situated inches from a dilapidated building that was being razed Monday in Charleroi, while another building behind it is even closer to the project.
“It’s a gamble,” said Rick McGavitt, owner of the house at 136 McKean Ave., when asked if he thought his home would survive the demolition of the Atlas building, whose roof had already collapsed over the winter.
“There are so many what ifs,” said his wife, Debbie McGavitt. “It’s such a big building.”
Washington County Redevelopment Authority awarded a $114,852 demolition contract last month to BJC Enterprises of Monroeville after it reached an agreement with the state Historical and Museum Commission to tear down the building. The authority was required by federal law to mitigate the impacts of the project in consultation with the PHMC because it’s using federal money to demolish the building at Second Street and McKean Avenue, and the structure is part of a district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
BJC faces a number of challenges with the project, one of which involves the building’s close proximity to a Norflok Southern rail line. There also is a lot of large-truck traffic at the rail crossing.
“It’s a huge challenge,” BJC worker Darla Shipley said Monday at the work site. “It’s going to take patience.”
Shipley said her crew arrived last week at the building and has been doing preparation work, which included the handling of asbestos and removal of utilities.
The building is owned by Charleroi Area School District, which has a pending agreement to sell the Atlas property and the nearby former high school football stadium to Mon Valley Alliance.
The alliance has not yet identified a reuse plan for the Atlas site, but it wants it to have some type of connection to the Monongahela River and the former stadium, which will become a riverfront park, said Christopher Whitlatch, the alliance’s chief executive officer.
“I’m just excited to see this come to fruition,” Whitlatch said.
Meanwhile, a number of bricks already had begun to pile up on the roof above the front porch of the neighboring house.
“We’re just taking it step by step,” said Debbie McGavitt.
The couple have been living in a motel since the facade of the building began to collapse to the street on its own in late December.