Red tape holds up demolition in Annville
ANNVILLE - Annville officials had hoped to have two buildings torn down by the end of last year as part of the township's downtown redevelopment plan.
But thanks to red tape from two different agencies - one state and one federal - they are still standing.
The former pizzeria on the northeast corner of routes 422 and 934 and the former post office directly behind it are both vacant and awaiting their date with the wrecking ball. But because of regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, they remain intact.
Richard Charles, chairman of the township's Economic Development Authority and vice president of the township's Board of Commissioners, said the PHMC declared that both buildings are "not contributing" and approved their demolition.
however, Charles said, the USDA had a question on whether the township's receiving a federal grant put all the properties in the redevelopment plan under a federal historical regulation.
"I've been in contact with the local Department of Agriculture representative who said ... that because the grant was for planning and architecture - not renovation or demolition - he doesn't believe it applies, and he's trying to get a ruling out of the Harrisburg office of the Department of Agriculture," Charles said. "But the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission is holding up their approval pending the determination of the Department of Agriculture."
Charles said the township
had originally hoped to tear the buildings down last November or December but now is hoping to do it when the weather breaks.
"We're getting our ducks in a row so that when this comes through we'll be able to move relatively quickly," he said.
Once the township gets the approval to tear down the buildings, Charles said, it needs an engineering study, then it needs to bid the demolition itself.
"We have already been in contact with the demolition contractors, but we haven't bid that yet," he said. "As soon as we get an OK, we're going to do the engineering, we're going to do the bids, and we're going to move as quickly as we can."
It is unclear exactly when the pizzeria was built, but a cornerstone on the post office reads: "Built by Tobias Bomberger 1931." The post office had been used by Lebanon Valley College until recently.
Longtime Annville resident Blanche Schaeffer said she believes the pizzeria was built around the same time as the post office and was originally a gas station.
Schaeffer, who moved to Annville in 1936 when she was 15, said at one time there were shops along Route 422 all the way to the corner of Route 934. one of them was a butcher shop in which Schaeffer's grandfather, Harry Boltz, was the butcher.
"I remember hearing them talk about it," she said. "There were stores from the corner, east. one of them was a butcher shop, and my grandfather was a butcher in there, and there was a twine shop."
Schaffer, a past president of the Friends of old Annville, said the gas station was already built by the time she arrived in Annville and was owned by a man named Bosh Shearer.
The commissioners unveiled the redevelopment plan, now known as the Annville Center Project, in April 2007 after approving the purchase of the former Fink's Bakery building at 25 E. Main St. for $325,000.
in September 2008, the township bought the pizzeria, most recently known as Salvatore's Pizza, for $175,000, and in September 2009, it bought five properties owned by Lebanon Valley College along East Main Street for $831,000.
Under the plan, the collection of buildings will be turned into offices, shops and eateries. The pizzeria and post office buildings will be torn down, and part of the parcel will become a small park with trees and benches.
The township is also attempting to acquire parts of back yards from property owners between Fink's Bakery and Manheim Street for additional parking for the project. that property is projected to add about 25 parking spaces.
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