Two weeks ago, a businessman in Pottsville had to knock down a blighted building he owned because it was falling apart.
Next week, he'll knock down another.
"I think it will be coming down next week," Daniel M. Sorge, Pottsville, said Monday, referring to the empty two-story building at 552 N. Centre St. It's next door to Maroons Sports Bar & Grill, 556 N. Centre St.
On Feb. 20, city officials were alerted when snow accumulation forced in the roof of the one that was falling apart, the blighted and vacant three-story property at 547 N. Centre St.
On Feb. 25, Sorge hired Penn Earthworks, Hazleton, to demolish that building and 552 N. Centre St.
While the latter didn't pose an immediate danger to the neighborhood, Sorge said, "It was outdated."
"I believe these properties were beyond repair and he was holding out hope that he could possibly repair them. Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, these buildings could have been saved or salvaged," City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Monday.
Sorge isn't sure what he was going to do with the properties once all the debris is cleared away.
"We're considering options. It's prime real estate downtown," said Sorge, who owns Sarge's Lounge & Deli, Est. 1992 at 538 N. Centre St.
The total cost of both demolition projects is $39,000, according to a permit filed Feb. 25 in the City of Pottsville Code Enforcement Office.
Palamar said Monday he was glad Sorge was making the effort to remove the blighted buildings.
"I think this is a very good thing. Mr. Sorge owns a significant amount of real estate down there and he's done a good job of keeping a lot of it used," Palamar said Monday.
Palamar said Sorge's effort will be mentioned at the March meeting of the Pottsville Blight Task Force, slated for 9 a.m. today in the conference room on the second floor of City Hall.
On Feb. 10, the city council told the public in a slide show presentation that 547 N. Centre St. was one of the most blighted buildings in the city.
It was built in 1880 and, in November 1978, Sorge bought the property from Irvin and Rose Nunemacher, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
The Pottsville Blight Task Force has a list of 378 blighted properties that they assessed, with Number 1 being the worst. Penn Earthworks recently demolished the property listed as Number 1, 674 N. Second St.
The three-story building at 547 N. Centre St. was Number 31, Palamar said.
The two-story building at 552 N. Centre St. is Number 51, David J. Petravich, city deputy code enforcement officer, said Monday.
According to the Schuylkill Parcel Locator, 552 N. Centre St. was built in 1850, and Daniel M. and Joan M. Sorge bought the property from Mary S. Yoder in August 1982.
On Monday, Sorge said "99 percent" of the people he knows spell his last name the way it's pronounced, "Sarge." And that's why he named his business Sarge's Lounge & Deli. However, he said the correct spelling of his last name is "Sorge."