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Collapsing Monessen building to be torn down

2 min read
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The owner of a collapsing building in Monessen that once housed the Valley Independent newspaper said he is going to work with the city to have it torn down.

“We’re going to clear the lot and I’m going to build brand new on it,” Guy Simpson of Monessen said Friday afternoon.

Simpson, who said earlier this week that he bought the building about eight months ago, expects demolition to take place sometime next week,

The building on Sixth Street began to collapse Sunday and continued to fall apart throughout the week as a result of the heavy rains over Labor Day weekend.

Mayor Ron Mozer said Friday morning that a condemnation order and an order for immediate destruction had been filed with the magistrate’s office.

“It’s beyond any hope,” Mozer said. “It’s gone.”

The building, which has addresses from 123-127 Sixth St., has not been occupied for a number of years.

Simpson said earlier that his plan is to put a small business downstairs in the building and some residences upstairs. He said he was attracted to the building because of its inside and granite front.

Sixth Street has been restricted to one lane since Tuesday. The area is blocked off by traffic cones and police tape.

Demolition already has taken place in the city this year with the razing of the former Health Mart Discount Center on Donner Avenue.

Bricks began to fall from that structure Feb. 9, creating a hazardous situation that resulted in the closure of Fifth Street and prompting Mozer to make an emergency declaration.

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