Demolition program under way in city

STEUBENVILLE - It was hard to see the two-story house at 1225 State St. because of the over grown bushes and high grass.

The first floor windows were boarded over but the front door stood open to an empty interior.

But the three-man crew from X-Treme Demolition of Wellsville wasted no time in placing a payloader in position at the back of the building to start removing the walls, pushing and pulling the structure to the ground.

WORK?UNDER?WAY An X-Treme Clean employee watched a backhoe operator tear down the back wall of a condemned house at 1225 State St. The house was razed and removed and the demolition crews smoothed out the vacant lot as part of the Steubenville Community Development Block Grant-funded program to remove condemned buildings. Twelve houses are on the list for demolition this summer. -- Dave Gossett

The city's 2014 demolition program using Community Development Block Grant funds is now under way with 11 condemned structures on the demolition list this year.

The first step for the demolition crew members was to drag matresses from the vacant house to the curb.

Then came the recycling of any and all metal in and on the house followed by the destruction of what was once someone's home.

"Our building inspectors will check on a house that has been turned into our office as dilapidated. Or we may see a building that is dilapidated. If the building needs to be demolished we try to get the property owner to have the house demolished and in some cases we are successful. If the city has to demolish the house and the property is a low and moderate income neighborhood, we put the building on our CDBG list. It usually takes about two years on the list before the actual demolition takes place," explained Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi.

"The property owner agreed to allow us to take down the house because she couldn't afford to have the work done. But she will still be responsible for maintaining the lot. The city does not take over ownership of the property. That still remains the responsibility of the owner," Petrossi noted.

The house was located at the corner of State Street and Henry Avenue, a neighborhood where almost every yard is neatly trimmed and sometimes enclosed by a small fence.

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Demolition program under way in city