Contractor to clear debris from Shamokin fire site

May 08--SHAMOKIN -- A demolition contractor expects the first truckloads of fire-charred rubble that had once been the Masonic Building, a downtown landmark, will be hauled away today.

The four-story building burned down in December and the resulting debris settled on site ever since -- an eye-sore and potential health hazard cordoned off by chain link fence along Independence, Eighth and Commerce streets.

Property owner Clayton Andrews said the holdup to clean up the site was delayed over the insurance settlement. Once the unknown tons of metal and wood, glass and concrete and brick are cleared -- or in the case of the latter two items, buried as clean fill -- Andrews hopes to sell the lot.

"I want somebody to put a business there. The town deserves it," Andrews said.

Ferdinand Diminick of his self-named contracting firm arrived on scene Monday with an employee and an excavator. They prepped the heavy equipment with plans to dig and load debris onto trucks today.

"Depending on the weather, I should be out by the end of May," Diminick said, thanking Mayor John Brown and Councilman Dan McGaw for moving the on-site fencing themselves.

Ferdinand Diminick Contracting, Danville, recently completed an unrelated demolition project at Second and Arch streets.

Shamokin is the site of the annual Anthracite Heritage Festival of the Arts, with events planned for May 25-26. The event evolved into the biggest tourist showcase for Shamokin, drawing thousands of visitors for the Market Street festival and related events throughout the city. The weekend is also the annual reunion for the Shamokin Area High School Alumni Association.

In turn, city officials hope Diminick finishes ahead of the festival -- 16 days from today.

"It's about time things get started," Brown said. "It's hot-button topic for everybody."

"I just hope with it starting today we can get it cleaned up by the end of the month," said city administrator Bob Slaby, noting the festival's aforementioned start-date.

Andrews was cited three times by the city code office in February for failing to clear debris from the property. Those citations remain pending in district court.

The Masonic Building, originally built as a YMCA, stood at Independence and Eighth streets since 1901. It caught fire and was destroyed on Dec. 14. Andrews bought it just four months prior for $45,000.

Patrolman Ray Siko, the city's fire investigator, said the investigation into the fire remains open and active. A cause hasn't been determined, he said. Siko wouldn't comment on whether the fire is considered suspicious.

The building is known to those familiar with the city as the former home of the Fun Shop, which closed in April 2016 after eight decades in operation.

Most recently, the building had four tenants: A Piece of Cake bakery, Geisinger Home Health & Hospice, accountant Francis Sobotor and the Shamokin chapter of the Free and Accepted Masons.

Geisinger, though, was at the end of its lease and had already ceased operations there. Sobotor has since moved the accounting business to a storefront further east on Independence Street. The bakery hasn't reopened in a storefront though its customers are able to place limited orders as the operators work from home. The Shamokin Masons are currently meeting at the Mount Carmel lodge.

What's hauled away from the site will go either directly to landfills in Lycoming or Schuylkill counties or to a transfer station east of Shamokin, in Coal Township, Diminick said. He hadn't settled on a price as of Monday morning. He also said he didn't have an estimate on the collective weight of the materials.

Diminick said he's been in the demolition business 37 years, noting he demolished Shamokin's old brewery, Fuhrmann & Schmidt, or F&S, along with the old Lincoln School on Market Street where a high-rise now stands and former buildings torn down where the Dunkin' Donuts is located.

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