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City of Syracuse takes steps to demolish crumbling warehouse near downtown

Part of the west side of the building was previously demolished due to concerns over its structural integrity.
Scott Willis
/
WAER News
Part of the west side of the building was previously demolished due to concerns over its structural integrity.

Syracuse common councilors Monday approved emergency demolition proceedings on a massive, crumbling vacant warehouse just west of downtown. A state supreme court judge recently granted permission to the city to tear it down.

WAER News stopped by the site to take a look.

“I’m walking along Erie Boulevard West near West Street, and it’s pretty clear this building is deteriorating badly," reporter Scott Willis said. "Many bricks have fallen off the building. You can see them in piles along the foundation. There’s a fence around the entire property to keep people safe. There’s a net on the east side of the building that’s designed to keep bricks from falling into the roadway below.”

Jake Dishaw is the city’s deputy commissioner of code enforcement.

“This building's been a hazard. There's been fires there, people in and out all the time," Dishaw told common councilors. “This owner has had a lot of opportunities to abate these hazards and develop this property. It's a danger not only to the public, but our first responders.”

A net hangs on the west side of the building to catch falling bricks and keep them from falling to West St. below. An onramp is closed as a precaution.
Scott Willis
/
WAER News
A net hangs on the west side of the building to catch falling bricks and keep them from falling to West St. below. An onramp is closed as a precaution.

Falling bricks forced the closure of an adjacent side street and an on-ramp to West Street. Dishaw says the city ordered owner Bowers Development of East Syracuse to demolish the seven-story building back in June. He says their promises rang hollow.

“'You know, I'll take care of it. I'll get on it. This thing will be down,' and it's just been slow played and delayed and not much action,” Dishaw said.

That’s why the city pursued legal action to take over demolition and clean-up. The court order requires the owner to reimburse the city for the $1.8 million cost. Dishaw says it’s a last resort, but essential for public safety.

“This is very rare. We don't want to have to do this. We consider a lot of factors. I don't take this lightly.”

An independent engineering report provided to the court by Bowers’ attorney says expedited demolition isn’t needed, but acknowledges numerous severely deteriorating support columns pose a danger. Attempts to reach Bowers Development were unsuccessful. The company doesn’t have a working website and the phone line was busy.

The south facing side of the former warehouse.
Scott Willis
/
WAER News
The south facing side of the former warehouse.

ANOTHER TROUBLED BUILDING TO BE TORN DOWN

Councilors also took similar action on another long-vacant, compromised, multi-level building a mile to the south. Dishaw says the former Peace Manor apartments bound by Seymour, West, and Shonnard Streets is also dangerous.

"We had that really bad fire back in October. Multiple floors collapsed," Dishaw said. "There's been nothing that's happened since. No action from anybody. That that's an ownership entity out of Brooklyn, so an out of town actor who let the property go before this fire."

A judge has already given the city the green light to demolish Peace Manor. In all, the city is borrowing $2.5 million to demolish the eyesores. The court order requires the owners to reimburse the city.

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.