Corbet Street building demolition is on the books again

A building in the heart of the Tarentum business district is back on track for demolition, officials hope.

The three-story brick building at the corner of Third Avenue was set to be razed before Christmas, but the job was ignored by contractor AP Wise Excavating of Butler, borough officials said.

The original contract was for $29,500.

“Like any other contractor, sometimes they just don’t show up to do the work,” Manager Dwight Boddorf said. “We notified him he was the lowest responsible bidder quite some time ago, sent him the paperwork to get started and basically never heard back from him.”

The borough doesn’t pay for work until the job is done, so taxpayers aren’t out any money.

“But it has delayed our original target date for demolition,” Boddorf said.

Demolition of the building at 215 Corbet St. will allow for landscaping, benches and, ultimately, a few extra parking spaces.

Council is expected to award the job to the next-lowest bidder, Ron Gillette Inc. of Harrison. Gillette’s bid came in about $39,000.

Boddorf said the borough sent a letter to Gillette about handling the demolition and is waiting to hear back.

Council meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday and is expected to discuss the issue.

When contacted by phone, Alvin Wise of AP Wise Excavating said he was delayed by scheduling conflicts but still is intending to contact the borough about the job.

The borough bought the former convenience store in 2022 for $90,000.

Code Enforcement Officer Anthony Bruni said, after the building comes down, the lot will sit empty for the remainder of winter before crews begin beautification efforts in the spring.