Dilapidated SR garage demolished
SLIPPERY ROCK — Within days of the 60-day deadline set by the Butler County Redevelopment Authority, Bill's Garage came down at the corner of Franklin and Main streets.
On Oct. 18, Perry O'Malley, executive director of the authority, said the garage would be torn down within 60 days. On Tuesday, that came true.
Sereday Excavating of Brookfield, Ohio, started tearing the building down Tuesday, with cleanup work during the week. The concrete paving was removed and replaced with dirt and planted grass on the lot which is a third of an acre.
The garage and attached bait shop had fallen into disrepair in the past few years, prompting the authority to become involved. The authority took ownership of the property this year, but negotiations with the family on the final price are continuing, O'Malley said.
Bill Hulings, the former owner, died Dec. 3, 2007. The garage has been vacant for more than a year.
The authority agreed to pay for the environmental cleanup of the property, which included underground gas and oil contaminants since the garage used to have gas pumps.
After the building and asphalt were cleared away, crews dug out the contaminated dirt, dispose of it and put clean fill dirt down, O'Malley said.
Although borough council members hoped to sell that property to someone, some council members were afraid to take on the cleanup costs, O'Malley said. That's why the authority became involved, especially since the borough couldn't pay for the costs.
O'Malley said one developer had been interested in buying the property along with a few others on the corner but funding fell through because of unstable economic conditions. He remains hopeful someone will buy the property.
As with many properties the authority works to improve, this one involved a good deal of background work but a short time for the demolition, he said. In the case of the garage, it took two to three years to put the deal together, he said, then about one week of demolition work.
Improving that downtown 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 talked to Hulings in 2006 about taking the property by eminent domain, but he objected, saying he made money from the business.
Jerry Heller, council president, has waited a long time for the area to be cleaned up, and he couldn't believe how different the corner now looks.
"It may now have the value of making the whole area more alluring to prospective buyers," he said.
Chip Atwell, a Greystone Manor resident who watched the demolition on Tuesday, had only a few words to say.
"It's about time,"he said.
Atwell said he passed the garage many times wondering when it might be torn down.
O'Malley does have one regret about the project.
"I promised the borough secretary we'd have it cleared in time to put a Christmas tree there, but I think we ran out of time,"he said.
