The removal of a blighted building, a former restaurant along Route 61 in Pottsville, has encouraged a drugstore chain to consider building a new location on that site, city Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Tuesday.
Representatives of CVS Caremark Corp., Woonsocket, Rhode Island, have been in talks with city officials about the possibility of constructing a new store at 28 N. Claude A. Lord Blvd., Palamar said at the July meeting of the Pottsville Blight and Nuisance Task Force on Tuesday
"They voiced an interest. And they're studying it," Palamar said.
"At this time we have no comment on plans to open a new store in Pottsville," Mike DeAngelis, CVS director of public relations, said Tuesday.
In April 2013, the task force became aware of problems with a crumbling foundation at the rear of a former restaurant at 28 N. Claude A. Lord Blvd., a building that had been vacant for more than a decade.
Businesses that formerly occupied the building included Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips from 1978 to 1981 and Domino's Pizza from 1986 until 1997, according to the Polk City Directory for Pottsville.
After the city sent letters of concern to the owner, Berks Mont Pizza Inc., 319 Spring St., Bethlehem, the owner hired AMC Enterprises, 147 W. Odgen St., Girardville, to knock down the property.
Palamar encouraged the public to continue to bring blighted properties to the city's attention.
"If you look at what CVS is planning down here on Route 61, that would not be a possible project if it weren't for the fact that that property was demolished and made way for, possibly, a multi-million dollar investment in the community," Palamar said at the blight meeting.
"CVS Caremark maintains a national network of nearly 68,000 retail pharmacies, including our CVS/pharmacy stores," according to its website at www.cvscaremark.com. There are 405 CVS/pharmacy locations in Pennsylvania, including one at Fairlane Village mall, Pottsville, and one in Schuylkill Haven.
In other matters at the meeting, Amy S. Burkhart, executive director of the Pottsville Area Development Corp., offered insights into the agendas for the two upcoming community summits regarding the buildings in the 100 to 600 blocks of West Market Street.
The first will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. July 16 in the second-floor conference room of the Pottsville Free Public Library, 215 W. Market St. The second will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. July 17 at the library's second-floor conference room.
"What we'll be doing at the summit is garnering, again, input from the community. We're going to be doing a SWOT analysis," Burkhart said, referring to the "Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats" method of problem solving.
"Originated by Albert S. Humphrey in the 1960s, SWOT Analysis is as useful now as it was then. You can use it in two ways: as a simple icebreaker helping people get together to 'kick off' strategy formulation, or in a more sophisticated way as a serious strategy tool," according to the University of Washington's website.
In April, the city and PADCO started the first phase of its downtown anti-blight campaign with an evaluation of 61 buildings on that six-block stretch. It included a public survey conducted by PADCO and the blight task force's assessment of the 61 buildings in that target area.
"I kind of anticipate that we'll get a lot of the same responses we received in the survey, but it will be interesting if we get any additional responses above and beyond that," Burkhart said.
Both summits will involve discussions of ways to improve the corridor and the development of an action plan.
"We're going in with some ideas from the survey, but it's really an open session," Burkhart said.
"It would be nice if we can get as many building owners there as we can," Palamar said.
"They're the ones, ultimately, who can be part of the solutions," city Councilman Joseph J. Devine Jr. said at the blight meeting.
"And you make the comment to them, 'Look, this is your city, and your business and your livelihood. Help us,' " Christine A. Holman, county district attorney, said at the blight meeting.
Burkhart said she'd prefer if people interested in attending register prior to the summits by calling PADCO at 570-628-4647.