LEHIGHTON, Pa. — Piece by piece, a property on North First Street in Lehighton started to come down, and people in the area came by to watch it go.
"You can tell it's been in disrepair for a long time. Since we moved in, it's been in disrepair. We've been waiting for the day this finally happened," said neighbor Madisyn Yarmosh.
Lehighton Borough Manager Dane DeWire says the borough was able to use grant money to fund the demolition. The project is expected to take a few weeks and has been years in the making.
"Blighted buildings are problems everywhere, but this one in particular—five stories tall—is unfit for habitation, and with the fear of a strong wind or bad winter taking the building down, we couldn't risk the neighboring properties," DeWire said.
The eyesore of a property isn't the only reason people are relieved to see the building come down. The property was known for its feral cat problem.
Newswatch 16 was here in February when dozens of cats could be seen coming and going from the building.
"They get them when they are kittens, and they are cute and cuddly. Then, when they grow up, they kick them out and don't spay or neuter them, and it just starts a colony. They can have like five litters in a year," said Mary Smith.
Borough officials say it's hard to know how many cats are on the property. Volunteers tell Newswatch 16 they've worked tirelessly to get as many of those cats out as possible.
"We don't have them all," Smith said. "We got over two dozen already that were spayed, neutered, vaccinated—trying to keep them until we get them all."
Volunteers have traps out with the hope of rescuing more cats. Demolition crews told the borough before they started demolition that they did not see any cats.
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