Monessen building deemed safety risk
MONESSEN – A large blighted building in the heart of downtown Monessen has been declared a public safety hazard and must be demolished.
The city’s engineer, Tony Vitale, inspected the former Fifth Avenue Hotel after bricks began to fall off the building at Fifth Street and Schoonmaker Avenue a few weeks ago, and he determined it to be unsafe, Monessen Mayor Lou Mavrakis said Friday.
“It’s one of the biggest eyesores in the middle of the downtown,” Mavrakis said. “The roof is ready to collapse.”
The city in Westmoreland County fenced off a portion of the sidewalk along Schoonmaker to keep people away from that side of the three-story building. The city’s fire department also removed more loose bricks from the structure, Mavrakis said.
The city’s demolition contractor, Chelsey Rittenaur, estimated it will cost more than $100,000 to demolish the building, owned by a New York man who owes $53,000 in back real estate taxes on the property, Mavrakis said.
He said Rittenaur is proposing that he will demolish the old hotel for $1 and also raze two dilapidated houses in a residential neighborhood if council gives him the vacant Eastgate II building near City Hall at 1 Wendell Ramey Lane. The proposed deal also calls for Rittenaur to pay the city $10,000, Mavrakis said
The proposal will be on the agenda for the next city council meeting at 7 p.m.. Monday.