Pittsburgh Public Schools trying to sell 9 buildings

Pittsburgh Public Schools officials are hoping to sell nine vacant buildings.

The vacant schools include Belmar in Homewood North, Fort Pitt School in Garfield and McNaugher School in Perry South.

The district estimates it costs taxpayers $250,000 a year to maintain the buildings, which is one of the reasons the school district wants to sell the properties.

Ira Weiss, solicitor for Pittsburgh Public Schools, said the district has entered into a bidding process to get developers interested in the properties.

“There’s lots of ways (the district) can spend (money) in a more productive way than maintaining buildings,” Weiss said. “I don’t think there’s urgency. I think there’s a desire to bring closure to the process.”

Many of the empty buildings are more than a century old, meaning there are also environmental concerns with asbestos and lead paint, an added cost that could make the buildings more difficult to sell.

Neighbors said they hope more will be done with the buildings.

“We would like to see low crime in our community. Bring a community center, something to give the children,” said Deona Williams, of Homewood.

Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.

Cox Media Group