‘Redemption’ to claim seven more houses

By David Skolnick

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Seven more vacant houses, suspected by city officials of being havens for criminals on the South Side near St. Dominic Church, will be demolished shortly as part of “Operation Redemption.”

The city’s board of control approved a $23,059.85 contract Thursday with All Demolition & Co. of Poland to take down houses at 29, 44 and 46 E. Lucius Ave. and 2928, 3006, 3007 and 3111 Southern Blvd. The work should be done in a few weeks.

At an Oct. 2 prayer vigil in response to a series of violent crimes near the church on East Lucius, Mayor Jay Williams vowed to demolish 27 vacant houses near the church by the end of the year.

“I’m pleased with the progress being made,” Williams, board of control chairman, said Thursday. “There’s a lot of work to be done there.”

The 27 houses to be demolished are on Lucius and Auburndale avenues and Southern Boulevard.

Eight are already demolished either by street department workers or the owners of the houses, said Sean McKinney, the city’s commissioner of buildings and grounds.

Four more will be razed by the street department later this month, he said.

All that are left are eight structures that should be demolished by the mayor’s Dec. 31 deadline, McKinney said.

But if there is a need to test the houses for asbestos or to remove those materials, it could delay demolition until the first or second week of January, McKinney said.

The contract for those final eight houses should be to the board of control shortly for approval, he said.

The Rev. Gregory Maturi, St. Dominic’s pastor, gave the mayor a list of 20 properties he wanted demolished near the church. With the help of Councilwoman Janet Tarpley, D-6th, who represents that area on city council, Williams added seven structures to the list.

Also, seven empty houses on the three targeted streets near the church, but not on the list of 27, have been demolished recently, according to records provided by McKinney.

Thomas J. Repchic was murdered and his wife, Jacqueline, was seriously injured during a Sept. 25 shooting after the two were hit by gunfire in their car shortly after leaving the church. Police say it was a case of mistaken identity. Angeline Fimognari, a St. Dominic parishioner, was murdered in the church parking lot Jan. 23 after attending Mass.

As part of the “Operation Redemption” program, police have increased their presence near the church, Williams said.

Also Thursday, the board agreed to accept the donation of 3600 Market St., a former Master’s Tuxedo store, from AVR Holdings Inc. of Elmhurst, Ill.

The 60-year-old, 23,690-square-foot building has been vacant for about five years, city officials say.

There are no plans for the property, but “the city’s philosophy is to take these blighted buildings on and restore them,” said David Bozanich, its finance director. “If we don’t exercise the authority to [buy the building], it will sit vacant for 20 years and cause blight in the neighborhood.”

City officials haven’t been inside the building in recent years, but are comfortable that they can turn the property into something productive, Bozanich said.