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Blighted Property in Wilkes-Barre Demolished

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — An old building in Wilkes-Barre is coming down. Demolition on a property along East Northampton Street began Thursday.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- An old building in Wilkes-Barre is coming down. Demolition on a property along East Northampton Street began Thursday.

Wilkes-Barre officials say this building has been an eyesore for years and was structurally unsafe.

We spoke to many people who were happy to finally see it being torn down.

The old building on East Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre has sat vacant for about 20 years, and now piece by piece, the city is bringing it down.

"The third floor was infested with pigeons, pigeons going in and out of those windows all the time and you don't know what else is in there," said Ned Blaum.

Blaum's sister owns the hair salon next to the building. It used to be an old TV repair shop known as the Raymond Electric building.

"It's about time they tore the building down. It's been an eyesore for years. Several times cars have come around the corner and plowed right into the front of it. The whole front of the place was knocked down," Blaum said.

"While some of the people we spoke with are ready for this build to come down, we did speak to people who have fond memories of it.

"Years ago, it was a drug store. It was a wonderful place to come to," Dave Jacobs recalled. "They had a beautiful soda fountain. It was nice, you could get cherry cokes, vanilla cokes, chocolate cokes, anything you wanted."

Jacobs grew up in the neighborhood and came down to watch a little piece of his neighborhood be torn down.

"Everything changes. That's the only thing that is consistent in life is that everything changes. It's nice to have the memories, though, because you can go back in your mind and it was a pretty nice area to grow up in."

The demolition should be finished by early next week. After the debris is hauled away, there will be a vacant lot on the corner.

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