SR garage in disrepair set to be demolished
SLIPPERY ROCK — The days are numbered for Bill's Garage, a borough business that has fallen into disrepair.
That's according to Perry O'Malley, executive director of the Butler County Redevelopment Authority, who said the building should be demolished within 60 days.
The authority took ownership of the property at the corner of Franklin and Main streets earlier this year by eminent domain, but negotiations on the final price are continuing, O'Malley said.
"That process sets a fair market value for the property, but we're also working with voluntary sales agreements with the estate, and that amount hasn't been settled," O'Malley said.
Bill Hulings, the former owner, died Dec. 4. Family members are negotiating with the authority.
Meanwhile, O'Malley is putting together the bid specifications to demolish the garage.
"The building should be down in the next 60 days," he said.
The garage has been vacant for more than a year. About a year ago, the Slippery Rock Fire Department put out a small fire in the bait shop attached to the garage so that part of the building is damaged.
The authority will pay for the environmental cleanup of the property, which has gas and oil contaminants underground, O'Malley said. The garage used to have gas pumps.
"It's not a health risk but a construction risk," if further development occurs there, O'Malley said.
After the building is demolished, crews will dig out the contaminated dirt, dispose of it and put clean fill in its place, he said.
The authority will pay to prepare the property for sale, which is expected to cost about $30,000, he said.
O'Malley said he spoke to borough council members who said the borough's limited finances do not allow it to work on that property.
"It's a commitment we made to the borough to clean up the corner and improve blight there," he said.
O'Malley said several developers are interested in the corner and surrounding properties. But despite reports that have circulated about what might be built there, nothing is settled yet.
"You need space for a modern business," O'Malley said, explaining why most developers are looking into the whole corner between Franklin and Main streets and the two alleys that form the back border. The lot for Bill's Garage is only about a third of an acre, he added.
Jerry Heller, council president, said no developer has come before borough council or the Slippery Rock Planning Commission with plans for that corner.
Heller said he will be glad to see the demolition and the cleanup of the corner, and he is thankful the authority took on those costs.
"It's just one more step in the process," of developing the corner, he said.
Improving that corner has been a goal of council members and the Slippery Rock Development group since the major downtown renovation began several years ago. Council and O'Malley approached Hulings in 2006 about taking the property by eminent domain, but Hulings strongly objected, saying that he made money from the business.
In 2000, Rob Wilson of Ellwood City considered building a Taco Bell and a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the corner and considered buying five properties there. After several months, Wilson abandoned the idea because he couldn't get sales agreements from all of the property owners.
