The teardown is continuing

STEUBENVILLE - Demolition work at the city annex building is set to resume early Saturday morning.

RSV Inc. employees started knocking down the walls of the 81-year-old structure last week and discovered the exterior brick and terra cotta tile walls covered an iron work skeleton.

Vance Vukelic of RSV said workers will be on the work site at 5 a.m. Saturday.

"We should have the building completely down by Sunday evening. That will leave the cleanup work and filling in the basement and covering the site with top soil," Vukelic said.

The city is paying RSV $144,000 for the demolition project.

Urban Projects Director Chris Petrossi said Market Street from Third Street to Court Alley, Third Street from Market Street to the Municipal Building and Court Alley from Market Street to the Municipal Building will be closed during the weekend demolition work.

"Adjacent sidewalks will also be closed. The streets will re-open Monday, but Court Alley will remain closed while the demolition work continues. Motorists are advised to use alternate routes to avoid delays and pedestrians are advised to keep away from the immediate area for safety reasons," advised Petrossi.

City officials decided to demolish the city annex building after agreeing to construct a new City Hall facility.

Officials moved into their new City Hall offices in May.

A subsequent auction of property in the annex building, including furniture, flooring and stamped tin ceilings, netted the city approximately $15,000.

The Steubenville Historic Landmarks Commission gave unanimous approval in February for the demolition of the annex building after reviewing the structure's history.

City Council members and administration officials have discussed several concepts for the site including a plaza and green space and using the original sandstone building wall blocks for seating in the plaza.

(Gossett can be contacted at dgossett@heraldstaronline.com.)