Feb 3, 2015 3 min read

CHARLEROI – A large vacant building owned by Charleroi Area School District has landed of a list of structures with building code problems in the borough’s downtown.

The former Atlas building, which the district received in a 2011 donation, is on a list of 11 such buildings Charleroi Council made public at a special meeting Saturday.

“I’m going to look at the Atlas building,” borough code enforcer Michele Mackey said Monday.

She said the borough’s public safety committee identified the buildings on the list, including the historic former Coyle Theater, under an amendment to the property maintenance ordinance. The owners of the 11 structures likely will get some form of a public notice from Mackey, per council’s direction, to address code issues.

The list is part of a “crackdown” on owners of problem buildings, mostly along Fallowfield and McKean avenues, said borough manager Donn Henderson.

Henderson said the borough also is concerned about buildings with boarded-up windows.

“They have to replace them with glass,” Henderson said.

The Atlas structure at 138 McKean Ave. was once home to a discount wholesaler, but it had been vacant for at least four years when it was donated to the school district under a plan to market it with the nearby former high school football stadium.

Washington County also agreed to forgive $3,698 in back taxes on the property, and other liens on it were cleared to help return the building to the tax rolls.

Henderson said the property is difficult to market because it sits in an industrial area and is “low in the flood plain.”

The school district has previously been notified about the building’s deteriorating condition.

“There was moss growing on the floor, moss growing up the walls,” he said.

Charleroi Superintendent Edward Zelich said a previous superintendent envisioned using the Atlas structure for an alternative education building.

Zelich said someone has recently expressed interest in purchasing the property and is supposed to let the district know in a few weeks if he wants it or not.

“If not, we’ll go back to the drawing board,” he said, adding the district will likely spend as much as $200,000 to repair its roof.

He said demolishing the building would be expensive and a challenge as downtown Charleroi is on the National Register of Historic Districts, a designation that protects it under preservation laws.

The board is not interested in selling the old football stadium, where the last game was played in October 2010.

“It’s on the back burner,” Zelich said. “It’s a beautiful piece of property.”

The other buildings on the list are: I00F Building, 400 Fifth St.; former Army Navy Store, 213 Fifth St.; 600 Washington Ave.; 515 Fallowfield Ave.; Kays Cleaners building, 531 Fallowfield Ave.; Independent Slovak Benefit Club, 700 McKean Ave.; 517 Fallowfield Ave.; 226 Washington Ave.; and 524 Fallowfield Ave.