Contractors temporarily removed demolition equipment from the shopping plaza along Route 65, but borough officials say work will resume once tenants are relocated.
ECONOMY — Demolition of portions of the Northern Lights shopping center will continue, despite the removal of construction equipment last week.
Borough Manager Randy Kunkle confirmed that work will continue on the dilapidated shopping plaza along Route 65. Northern Lights officials are working to relocate some businesses, which will determine what section of the shopping plaza will be demolished next, borough officials said.
New Sewickley Township-based contractor Iron City Excavating is slated to continue the demolition, Kunkle said. The company, owned by councilman R.J. Burns, has had construction equipment at the shopping plaza since late last spring. The company is listed on five demolition permits issued to Northern Lights' parent company, PZ Northern, in June.
According to those permits, the demolition is expected to cost $485,000. The permits detail a plan to tear down the upper right portion of the shopping plaza, near the former Ames location.
One of those buildings, perpendicular to the former Ames building on the southern side of the plaza, has already been torn down. A few businesses remain in the southwest portion of the shopping plaza, near Key Bank. That building is slated for demolition, after all tenants are relocated.
Before demolition work can continue, there must be asbestos removal from the other buildings, Kunkle said.
Built in 1956, Northern Lights once housed nearly 70 storefronts in its more than 475,000-square-foot space. Now, the majority of retail space is left vacant with broken windows and sidewalks. Portions of the parking lot are littered with so many cavernous potholes that fencing blocks traffic from driving through them.