Representatives from AAA said Monday that safety of their employees is one of the main reasons they purchased a property on S. Centre St. in Pottsville, want to demolish it, and construct a small parking lot in its place.
They even went so far as to say that homeless people in downtown Pottsville are continually harassing their employees as they walk to their vehicles after work in the evening.
Pottsville City Council members voted unanimously on Monday to approve a recommendation from the Historical Architectural Review Board (HARB) to raze 368 S. Centre St. in favor of a nine-space parking lot.
AAA Northampton County purchased the building – a former funeral home and rape crisis counseling center – on the 0.9-acre lot in July 2024 for $250,000.
John Levkulic, a director on the AAA board, said other properties more adjacent to the organization’s local operations were considered but they could not strike a deal to purchase them.
AAA Northampton County does own the apartment building neighboring its current parking lot (352 S. Centre St.), which it purchased for $200,000 in June 2024, according to the Schuylkill County Map Viewer/Parcel Locator.
Demolition and cost to construct the parking lot at 368 S. Centre St. will run close to $750,000, Levkulic said.
He said AAA employees are currently parking in the lot the organization currently owns but also on Centre St. and at the Union Station lot.
Levkulic said AAA has a “tremendous concern” for the safety of its employees that don’t park in the lot next to their office.
For the employees who are forced to park in the Union Station lot, he said, “They literally have to leave our office 15 minutes early to get down or get driven down to the Union Station lot so they don’t get harassed by homeless people, other people along the way.”
AAA Northampton County CEO Steven Lindemann added, “The safety has been on our board’s conversation for the last few years since homeless people have approached our employees going to their cars at night. Safety has been our number-one concern.
Building Condition Beyond Repair
While many who commented on a Coal Region Canary Facebook post prior to Monday’s vote expressed displeasure with the idea of knocking down 368 S. Centre St., several officials and business leaders said the building is basically beyond repair at this point.
“It’s a shame it’s come to this,” City Administrator Ian Mahal said, adding that not approving the plan to demolish the building would ultimately put the burden of it on Pottsville.
“This will fall on the City if the Council would not move forward in supporting their revitalization,” Mahal said, later adding that it could cost up to a couple hundred thousand dollars in demolition costs.
The cost to repair the building as-is and make it a single-family residence estimated at $1.2-1.6 million. To fix the building and modify it to be an apartment building would be slightly more than double that cost, up to $3.3 million, Mahal said.
Levkulic said he toured the property at 368 S. Centre St. and said it’s in need of extensive renovations, such as all new wiring, plumbing and drywall. Most building materials inside would have to be removed, too.
“There’s not much choice,” he said. “Nobody was going to pick it up. It would have sat there and it would deteriorate it more and more and more until we have an eyesore that’s a public nuisance and public safety hazard.”
Pottsville Area Development Corp. Executive Director and Chairman of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce Savas Logothetides commented that AAA has been gracious in the past by allowing the public to use its parking lot when they visit other businesses on the south side of downtown.
“We know that they are appreciative of that,” he said.
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Guy
June 14, 2025 at 11:26 am
Something doesn’t pass the smell test here. I think AAA before they purchased the building had already was given the ok to raise the building before they purchased it. Mahal, why would the taxpayers have to foot the bill if AAA owns it ?
Rick
June 17, 2025 at 2:16 pm
Why do our city cops allow homless people to harass our working class people, sounds like we have a California problem. The cops should be patroling that area to make sure people are safe to walk to their cars and if someone is harassing someone it should be delt with and not ignored. These people all leave work at the same time so why cant a patrol car be in the area when they leave, isnt that what cops are suppose to do. And not one time in this post was it mentioned that city council addressed the harassment problem.