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Crews Working to Take Down Collapsing Building

POTTSVILLE — After a building partially collapsed on Monday, crews have been working to safely demolish half of it. Families that lived on the good side o...

POTTSVILLE -- After a building partially collapsed on Monday, crews have been working to safely demolish half of it.

Families that lived on the good side of the building are waiting to find out when they can return home.

Crews have been working since early Tuesday afternoon trying to find the best way to take part of the building down. It's a bit of a delicate process because crews don't want the building to fall in the street, and they also want to protect the attached home from rain or other damage.

Pottsville officials are calling this an emergency demolition.

"It is a little bit more difficult at this one because they can't access the machine from in front of the property because of electrical wires, so they have to do everything from the side and the rear," explained Deputy Code Officer Justin Trefsger.

City officials say this was the second property on their priority list of which 28 buildings need to be demolished.

The city says the property is owned by a company in New York and has since been fined for the building's condition.

One side is vacant. The attached property had people living inside who had no choice but to leave.

"Especially if you are a homeowner and you take care of your property and the neighbors aren't taking care and you get messed up because of it," said Isaiah Samuels.

Since moving to Pottsville in 1998, Jeffery Blackman could see the building from his window at Farlow's Original Deli.

"Some consider it an eyesore. If I drove out of the area and saw that many empty businesses," said Blackman. "It's almost a sore spot with all the empty businesses."

City officials tell Newswatch 16 the city is working tirelessly to make sure all the properties are taken care of.

"We are always trying to get the properties down so they aren't in the middle of the street like this one is. We are working as fast as we can," Trefsger said.

The family that was displaced because of the demolition is staying with other family members.

Pottsville officials say the demolition will continue over the next few days.

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