Arnold Volunteer Fire Company 2 is asking city council to demolish a Fifth Avenue structure that is damaging a building it owns.

Chris O’Leath, who recently stepped down as Company 2 chief after five years, spoke to council on behalf of the company to request 1708 Fifth Ave. be torn down.

O’Leath said the vacant building, which once housed Lazarus Tomb coffeehouse, has deteriorated so badly that the damage is spreading to 1706 Fifth Ave., which the company owns.

That building is also vacant and was most recently occupied by the Central Valley Credit Union, which vacated after merging with the Alle-Kiski Postal Federal Credit Union, O’Leath said.

The building at 1708 is owned by a limited liability company based in eastern Pennsylvania, whose principal partner cannot be located, according to city officials.

O’Leath said the roof at 1708 has caved in, exposing the interior to rain, wind and snow.

“We’ve been dealing with this for seven or eight years,” he said. “The water coming in through the damage in that building is damaging our building.

“The concrete block is so saturated because the roof has been caved in that the water is coming through our walls,” O’Leath told council. “There’s a hole the size of this room at the top of that building.”

He said fire company members first noticed damage to their building about seven years ago, after water damaged the walls and carpet. O’Leath said the fire company’s insurance carrier covered the damage, which amounted to about $4,000.

He said it was a different story when more damage occurred about eight months later.

“We were denied an insurance payment,” O’Leath said. “They (insurance carrier) said they could not continue to cover us unless that building is repaired or demolished.”

He said the situation is making it hard for the fire company to find another tenant and there is concern that if the building is not demolished and the damage halted, it could spread to the building at 1702-1704, which the fire company owns and rents office space on the upper floors and a bingo hall on the first floor.

City solicitor David Regoli said the city could attack the problem by convening council as a board of health and scheduling a hearing. He said if the owner does not show up, the city can condemn the building and take it over. Then it could be demolished with the city putting a lien on the vacant property to cover the cost of demolition, which would have to be paid if and when the property is sold.

In the meantime, the city code enforcement department will continue trying to locate the owner.

Tom Yerace is a freelance writer.

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