Crews have begun work to demolish homes in a South Harrisburg neighborhood that was destroyed by massive sinkholes, with the goal of replacing the abandoned row homes with green space.
Demolition began Tuesday on South 14th Street properties that were plagued by a sinkhole that emerged in March 2014. The City of Harrisburg is the first in the nation to receive federal disaster relief funding for sinkholes, Mayor Eric Papenfuse said.
“After nearly 5 years since the first sinkhole opened up in South Harrisburg, demolition began today...,”Papenfuse tweeted Tuesday.
He thanked the agencies that helped Harrisburg reach the milestone: the federal emergency management agency, the director of Pennsylvania’s Emergency Management Agency, Dauphin County leaders, and the state department of Community and Economic Development. He also thanked “the scores of disaster mitigation specialists from across the USA, who toured the site today."
“We are pleased to announce that we have started the demolition on this project,” Papenfuse said. “We are thankful that the federal, state and county agencies responded to our calls for help, and are looking forward to making this area safe for our residents.”
The city received $5,779,009 in federal funding from FEMA and Housing and Urban Development to acquire and demolish the 53 affected homes in the 1400 Block of South 14th Street. Funding was used to help relocate residents, as well as secure the sinkhole site.
City officials said they also received $1 million from Dauphin County to rehabilitate the sinkhole after demolition is completed and the area is turned into green space, which is part of HUD and FEMA guidelines.
Demolition should take about 45 days, Papenfuse said, followed by, site grading, lawn and tree planting. The end result is open space surrounded by a pedestrian path with deed restrictions prohibiting future development of the property, according to the city.