‘Making Progress’: City housing demolition schedule shifts as emergencies arise
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
This home on Allen Street has been demolished, with cleanup still waiting. Emergency demolitions can often take place more quickly than a typical housing demolition. P-J photo by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
This demolition on Winsor Street of a home damaged by a 2023 fire was complicated, with the final demolition coming by reallocating money from another project. P-J photo by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
This home on Allen Street has been demolished, with cleanup still waiting. Emergency demolitions can often take place more quickly than a typical housing demolition. P-J photo by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
There are several houses on Allen Street that have been posted as not to be occupied by the city Development Department. Some of the homes will be demolished, but city officials said that process is slower than they’d like. P-J photos by John Whittaker
This demolition on Winsor Street of a home damaged by a 2023 fire was complicated, with the final demolition coming by reallocating money from another project. P-J photo by John Whittaker
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Housing demolitions are proceeding in Jamestown, though the pace has slowed over the past couple of months.
That includes a few of demolitions scheduled for Allen Street.
"Slower than we would like but we are making progress," said Crystal Surdyk, city development director.
During a City Council Housing Committee meeting in June, Surdyk provided the committee with an updated demolitions list that included 28 demolitions already completed through the Chautauqua County Landbank and 29 emergency demolitions. That update was followed by a July update during which Kacie Foulk, deputy development director, discussed an updated demolition list with City Council members that showed 13 houses had been demolished using ARPA funding, with four remaining. There were also 15 demolitions funded through the land bank or with state Homes and Community Renewal funding.
"The time it takes to facilitate demolitions can be frustrating because we are required to follow procurement procedures for each phase – asbestos survey, abatement, demolition, removal – and we are at the mercy of contractor availability," Surdyk said. "We have a small pool of contractors who are certified to do abatement and given the age of the residential properties, the vast majority contain asbestos and must be abated prior to demolition. This process often takes several months from the release of the first bid advertisement to the final cleanup. Ironically, emergency demolitions are often faster as far as process goes, because the urgent nature of the demolition is due to imminent threat to public health and safety so situations of this nature – such as demolition to aid in fire suppression, significant structural degradation, collapse or partial collapse – demand a controlled demolition."
Surdyk also discussed the demolition of a property at 103 Willard St., a project that caught the attention of many online in late June. The demolition ended up being a complicated situation, Surdyk said, indicative of the types of challenges the city faces with housing demolitions. The property had been purchased in the 2022 foreclosure auction by someone who wanted to renovate and live in the home. After the 2023 fire, the house was uninhabitable and structurally unsound. There was no insurance on the home to help the property owner rebuild, and attempts to hold the property owner responsible were unsuccessful as well.
Eventually, the city needed to get a court order to demolish the property and a partnership with the Chautauqua County Land Bank to purchase the property in the 2025 foreclosure auction. Surdyk told The Post-Journal recently that a handful of emergency demolitions have altered the city's demolition plan discussed with council members earlier this year – including the Willard Street property.
"Once the Land Bank had acquired the property and the order to demolish was granted, the next hurdle was to determine where to fit it into the demolition schedule and funding as all of the city of Jamestown ARPA funding and county HCR funding had already been assigned to other addresses as part of a collaborative strategy between the DOD and CCLB," Surdyk said. "Ultimately, the property at 103 Willard took precedence over some other less hazardous properties and we reallocated ARPA funding to expedite the demolition."