Properties on both ends of town nearing collapse

SHENANDOAH – Borough officials were on site Friday at a collapsing property on the west end which has prompted a sidewalk closure. Meanwhile, on the east end, a property the borough is purchasing for demolition may end up next door sooner.

Code Enforcement and Streets Department employees were at Coal and Chestnut Streets where the old Matuza’s Bar has further deteriorated.

The building at 238 West Coal Street has been in bad shape for years and had shown signs of collapse within the past year.

Code Enforcement Officer James Flail told the Sentinel at the scene that part of the rear of the property gave way recently.

It is listed as owned by three deceased members of the Bartholomew family. Taxes haven’t been paid on the property since 2005 and the last member of the ownership group passed away in 2022.

Across town, a home at 139 East Coal Street is a twisted mess, threatening to collapse westward into a home at 135 East Coal.

The collapsing property and the tree and half-demolished rubble next door at 137 East Coal are currently owned by the Purcells of Mahanoy City — 139 by Lawrence M Purcell and 137 by Connie Lee Purcell. Lawrence previously owned the latter in the 1990’s.

Taxes haven’t been paid on either in a decade and they have frequently been shown by Senator David G. Argall (R-29) on social media channels as an example of local blight.

Shenandoah Valley Schools approved the repository sale of the East Coal Street properties to the borough for $1 Monday night.

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Kaylee Lindenmuth

Kaylee Lindenmuth is a Shenandoah native with a passion for journalism and the community she calls home.

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