EDWARDSVILLE -- A nearly 100-year-old bank in Luzerne County was torn down Wednesday.
As crews tore down the old building, years of memories went with it.
"It was there ever since I grew up, and I grew up right upstairs. It was a beautiful building at one time, but it deteriorated," said William Yenalevitch of Edwardsville.
The old bank building used to store pinball machines for Empire Arcade. But business has been down. The company didn't need the storage, and it recently sold the building to Edwardsville Borough, which used $45,000 in state casino money to buy it and another $28,000 to knock it down.
"It was just paying taxes on it, sitting there, nothing could be done with it," said one man, who works at Empire Arcade.
Now, Edwardsville officials are planning to advertise the location.
"I'd like to see some buildings or businesses in there because this is the business district," said Mayor Ace Dubaskas.
Borough officials plan to clean the area. They hope a new business comes in to construct a new building there.