ASHLEY, Pa. -- An old building in Ashley is crumbling.
Caution tape surrounds 29 North Main Street in Ashley. If you look on the side of the building, you can see why. Parts of the building's stucco have fallen off onto a parking lot below.
Ashley borough officials said the building was condemned several weeks ago, but it started crumbling over the weekend. Officials said the owner of the building, a man from Hanover Township, has not paid the taxes on it in four years, so there were a lot of liens on the property.
"We had our attorney start to work on it," council president John Gibbons said. "He's got it to the point where now the liens are gone. It's with the tax claim bureau."
The borough council president said the goal is to purchase the condemned building and knock it down, but there is just one problem. The building next to it is connected. They share a stairwell that is used to help the people who live in the second building get to their apartments.
"If it was the one building, we could probably do it in a couple of days," Gibbons said. "We have to worry about the tenants in the other building, because they have rights too, and we have to give them time to get out."
The borough will have to talk to the owner of the other building and do more research to find out how much tearing the two buildings down would cost.
People in Ashley are sad to learn that more buildings in the community could be torn down.
"We got enough lots around here to cut grass on, really," Billy Roberts of Ashley said. "So that'll be another lawn to cut."
Ashley borough officials will also meet with county leaders to see if there is any assistance they can get in tearing down the buildings.