3 dilapidated Tarentum homes set to be demolished

TARENTUM, Pa. (KDKA) -- The borough of Tarentum continues its efforts to rid the community of eyesores and hazards with its anti-blight campaign.

Three dilapidated homes are set to be demolished as early as this month, bringing the total to 60 since 2019. All three are in severe disrepair, infested with rodents and a nuisance to neighbors.

"Owners of these houses don't care. They just leave them sit and that's what happens," said  Patrick Duffy. 

For homeowners like Duffy looking to sell or move in, the blighted, abandoned house next door can be a nightmare.

But officials in Tarentum have made it their mission over the past few years to improve the safety and appearance of their borough with the anti-blight campaign.

"Blighted properties we know have an adverse effect on the value of the market, so the housing values," said borough manager Dwight Boddorf. "It can also lead to increased crime, it can lead to unwanted animals -- raccoons, rats, health and safety issues like that."  

Since 2019, the borough has been able to rid its community of 57 blighted properties through a combination of borough and state funding. Three more properties are slated to come down as soon as this month.

A dilapidated home on 10th Avenue, one a street behind on 11th Avenue and one a mile away on Pitcairn Street will be torn down for new development. And neighbors including Duffy are elated.

"It's good, yeah, just to have a clean lot and start from there, because the rodents and raccoons are going in there in and out," Duffy said. 

All three homes are abandoned and officials have made multiple attempts to reach the property owners. After a hearing was held and no one contested, the borough got the green light to demolish them. 

"We've done a lot of blight removal in the last couple of years and we're looking forward to continuing that program as well as rebuilding the community," Boddorf said.

After these three are brought down, the borough will work on identifying the next group of properties to be demolished next year.