SCRANTON, Pa. — There was a block party of a different kind Wednesday morning on the corner of Wheeler Avenue and Pine street in Scranton's Hill Section.
The champagne was ready to pop and neighbors quite literally danced in the street as they waited for heavy equipment to tear into a blighted building.
A city employee took the first ceremonial swipe at the vacant building on the corner. It's one of about two dozen blighted properties scheduled for demolition in the coming months, thanks to state grants.
This one has a long and sordid history behind it.
"It's like Christmas Eve," Barb O'Malley said. "I am so excited that this is finally, finally, coming down."
The building is owned by New York resident Ken Bond, infamous in Scranton, where he owns 18 rental properties, many of which are blighted, all of which are tax delinquent.
Eileen Cipriani, Scranton's director of economic and community development, says two of Bond's properties are scheduled for demolition this year, but the city plans to pursue razing more.
"We've developed a process," Cipriani said. "We're following the rules, so if you have blighted properties in the city of Scranton, we're going to address them. And that's what we intend to do."
That was welcome news in this part of the Hill Section.
"We take great pride, those of us who live in the historic Hill Section, close to Nay Aug Park, in taking care of our homes, and we would certainly like to see more homes such as this be taken down in the future," Stacey Urgento said.
"My hope for this city is that we can be proactive and not reactive going forward. I don't want to see a house torn down. I want to see families living in them and good strong neighborhoods," O'Malley added. "But this one is beyond its shelf date."