By TAYLOR BROWN
Four years after bricks from the former Atlas building began to fall, a new development will begin at the site in downtown Charleroi.
On Friday, the Mon Valley Alliance announced plans to construct a new 3,200-square-foot state-of-the-art commercial office building at the intersection of Second Street and Mc-Kean Avenue.
The building, designed by Kulak George Architects, will blend in to the downtown corridor by re-establishing the street wall using masonry construction.
The design will resemble a group of smaller individual buildings that will flow with the existing downtown street scape.
The project will include on-site parking behind the building with full Americans with Disabilities Act access.
The blighted Atlas building, condemned in 2014, was formerly owned by the Charleroi Area School District, which acquired it due to years of unpaid taxes.
In 2017, the MVA acquired the site under its Blight Remediation Program.
Charleroi committed $100,000 in Community Block Grant Funds for the building’s demolition, which was supported by $40,000 in private funding from the MVA.
Alliance CEO Ben Brown said the project represents a large investment in the community.
“This new development represents an estimated investment of over $1 million into the property from the date a few years ago when bricks were falling into the street,” he said.
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