Pocono News Section

Carbondale Building Inspected

Carbondale Building Inspected - Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 11:22AM EST

Reported by: David DeCosmo
Thursday, Feb 7, 2008 @11:22am EST

CARBONDALE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Engineers spent several hours on Thursday checking the condition of a Carbondale building where bricks from the facade fell to the sidewalk last month.

The building, on North Main Street, originally housed a Woolworth's store and has had a spring of tenants over many years. The sidewalk in front has been closed since some of the brick fell during a strong wind storm in January. Mayor Justin Taylor has proposed an ordinance that would require owners to do periodic assessments of their buildings and the city engineer said he believes its a good idea.

Dennis Kutch of KBA Engineering stated "Once you do your initial inspection you kind of have a pretty good sense. So the next time you go back two or three years down the road it doesn't take as long and its not that much of an effort. With the equipment that they have today that can get you up and down these buildings. It just makes life a little easier and a little safer."

The old Woolworth building is the third in downtown Carbondale that has had some of its facade fall to the sidewalk over the past three years.