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Preparing for Demolition in Shenandoah

SHENANDOAH — It’s never a good sign when much of a building lies next to the property instead of being attached to it. Part of a building on North W...

SHENANDOAH -- It's never a good sign when much of a building lies next to the property instead of being attached to it. Part of a building on North White Street in Shenandoah collapsed Friday.

"You can't walk one block in this town and see a nice street. There's blight everywhere," said Barbara Kilker of Shenandoah.

Kilker's brother lives on the street. She says it took a partial collapse for borough officials to finally do something about the building.

"They say nothing, but they know for months, weeks, days that this is coming down," said Kilker.

Shenandoah's borough manager told Newswatch 16 he was aware of the building's condition but didn't know how bad it was until last week. Crews spent the day relocating poles and power lines in preparation for the demolition of what's left.

Neighbors say buildings like this are all over Shenandoah.

"They really need to rip them down. They need to take a lot of these buildings down," said Jennifer Wentworth of Shenandoah.

Demolition is expected to begin later this week. Borough officials say they want to do it as soon as possible because now it's a safety issue.

"There's always a lot of kids that play around on the streets and anywhere. They're going to end up getting all hurt," said Wentworth.

The people who live along that side of North White Street are not allowed back in their homes until the demolition is complete. There is no word on how long it'll take to tear down the building.

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