Since the owner of the Schuylkill Trust Co. building in downtown Pottsville failed to make repairs to crumbling sections of the building’s facade, the city is taking him to court.
A hearing before Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. March 31, David J. Petravich, city building code officer, said Monday.
The owner of the building at 101 N. Centre St., James J. Curran Jr., an attorney and president of Schuylkill Land & Realty Inc., Pottsville, could not be reached for comment Monday.
On May 29, 2015, the city’s office of code enforcement received a complaint that a section of the building’s facade dropped to the sidewalk.
Petravich said it was a section of the roof, part of the east side of the building where a plant was growing out of the side.
“From the ground, you couldn’t see it too well. I got up on the roof and took photographs. This is the north east corner. There was a tree growing out of one of the concrete mortar joints. The problem is the joint’s not sealed between the brick work or the material there. And it’s leaving water and dirt and everything get in there. And you have plant growth. And right here it starts to break a section of the material. And it broke loose,” Petravich said Monday.
During his inspection in May 2015, Petravich also noticed wear on numerous window sills.
In August, Petravich met with Curran about the matter.
“He had a contractor with him. And we inspected it from the roof. And the contractor discussed how he was going to make the repairs, and how he would need a lift or a crane,” Petravich said Monday.
On Aug. 25, Petravich issued Curran a notice of violation.
“From that point, he had 30 days to repair the structure,” Petravich said Monday.
But the work was not done, Petravich said.
“The building is in violation of 2009 International Property Maintenance Code Section 304 Exterior Structure subsection 304.6 exterior walls,” Petravich said Sept. 8.
“The defendant failed to make repairs in a timely manner,” Petravich said in a nontraffic citation he issued Sept. 25.
In September, the building’s only tenant aside from Curran, Wells Fargo Bank, took precautions to protect pedestrians from potential falling debris. The bank hired Beth-Allen Ladder & Scaffold, Allentown, to build a covered walkway over the sidewalk. It runs along the North Centre Street and West Market Street sides of the building.
“We continue to pay for scaffolding you see at the building,” Kevin Friedlander, corporate communications manager at Wells Fargo & Co., said Monday.
The Schuylkill Trust Co. building was built in 1924, according to “Pottsville in the Twentieth Century,” a 2003 book in the Images of America series by Leo L. Ward and Mark T. Major.
It’s a 16,500 square foot property that sits on 0.38 acres, according to information provided by Angela D. Toomey, director of Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau.
The landmark has been experiencing troubled times in recent years.
Curran hasn’t paid taxes on the property in three years. As of Monday, $100,663.51 is owed in back taxes on the property, Toomey said Monday.
That includes $35,495.93 in back taxes for 2013, $33,964.94 in back taxes for 2014, and $31,202.64 in back taxes for 2015, Toomey said.
“This amount is good through the end of March and then there will be interest added,” Toomey said.
In September, the property was included in a Schuylkill County upset sale, but there were no bidders willing to pay $292,665 for the property.
“That amount included $97,253 in back taxes for the city, county and school district from 2013, 2014 and 2015, plus municipal liens and state and federal claims,” Toomey said at the time.
If the property is slated to be part of a judicial sale in the next few months, someone can get the building possibly for as little as $1,000, Toomey said Monday.
“The parcel is on our petition for the next judicial sale which will be filed with the court of common pleas within the next few weeks. It will take approximately two months from that point for the sale to take place. We are most likely looking at the end of June or sometime in July as a sale date,” Toomey said.