Power restored after St. Lad's demo goes awry

Conrad Zylinski was in the middle of cleaning his oven Wednesday when the power to his Spruce Street home in Harrison’s Natrona neighborhood went out.

He blamed crews from Minniefield Demolition Services, who are working this week to raze St. Ladislaus Church.

“A guy running the crane knocked a bunch of bricks down onto the transformer,” Zylinski said. “That’s not the only problem here. There’s a piece of metal in my front yard, about 180 feet from the church.

“It’s dangerous.”

Calls to Minniefield Demolition requesting comment were not returned.

Church administrator Tom Babinsack said he received a report of the power outage but was not certain what led to it.

“They are handling it at the scene,” Babinsack said.

About 30 residents were without electricity Wednesday afternoon, according to West Penn Power spokesman Will Boye.

Crews arrived on the scene about 2 p.m. and were working to restore the utility. Power was restored around by 6 p.m.

“Our crew is investigating the cause,” he said.

Zylinski said he was upset that Spruce Street was not blocked off during demolition. He said tarps should have been erected to catch flying debris while crews knocked down the church domes and walls.

Demolition of St. Ladislaus Church and school began Monday. The building had stood along Spruce Street for 120 years before being closed last year by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

“It’s disgusting in my opinion,” Zylinski said. “There’s lead paint, asbestos and 100 years of grime from the mill that’s flying around our street.”