Harrison adds 3 more houses to demolition list

Harrison commissioners are targeting three more deteriorated and abandoned houses for demolition.

Commissioners started the process to tear down the three houses, all in the township’s Natrona Heights neighborhood.

They are at 2602 Monroe St., 1204 Cambridge St. and 1525 Union Ave.

The Cambridge Street house is near Allegheny Valley Hospital, while the Union Avenue house is not far from Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament Church.

“I really think we can take these three houses down within the budget and make a real statement to the county,” Commissioner Chuck Dizard said.

While Dizard said there is money set aside in the budget to do that, code enforcement Officer Norbert Cieslinski and Township Manager Rich Hill cautioned that the properties need to be condemned before demolition.

Hill said the three properties are in addition to five that have been approved for demolition through a project paid for with $78,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant funds distributed through the Allegheny Valley North Council of Governments.

The project has not yet been put out for contract bids.

Hill said the township set aside $60,000 in its budget to pay for the demolition of the three additional properties.

While Allegheny County will cover the cost of asbestos investigations and abatement for the five buildings being torn down with grant money, the township will have to cover those costs for the three houses it wants to tear down with its own money, according to Hill and township engineer Ray Antonelli.