Hagerstown council to discuss demolishing buildings behind Alms House

January 08, 2008|By DAN DEARTH

HAGERSTOWN - The Hagerstown City Council today will discuss whether to spend $21,729 to have city workers demolish two buildings behind the Alms House on North Locust Street.

City Public Works Director Eric Deike said the cost would include the installation of a fence behind the city-owned building and improvements to the front yard.

In November, the council told Deike and City Engineer Rodney Tissue to research whether the project could be done at a lower cost using city workers rather than hiring a private contractor.

According to city documents, one of three outside bids, submitted by Wrecking & Salvage for $17,700, was lower. The other bids were for $28,300 and $25,530, according to the documents.

Deike said a disadvantage of using city labor would be having to pull workers from the project to remove snow if a storm hits.

The Alms House was built in the late 18th century and was used as a hospital during the Civil War. It is documented that soldiers who died in the house were buried on the property.

Councilwoman Penny M. Nigh said Monday that she would like to be at the site when the buildings are razed to ensure the Alms House isn't damaged.

In addition, she said members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have offered to sweep the property with metal detectors after the buildings are demolished to search for Civil War artifacts.

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