Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton The Brick House will be the focal point of a blight remediation grant filed by the City of Warren. The city’s Redevelopment Authority signed off on support for the project on Wednesday.

The City of Warren is pursuing up to $300,000 from a new state program designed to help eliminate blight.

The target structure? The former Brick House on Liberty St.

Warren County Councilman John Wortman pitched pursuing the funds to the city’s Redevelopment Authority on Wednesday.

“I would like to personally see us try and renovate the Brick House and that area of the downtown,” Wortman said. “I don’t want to see that building demolished.”

He told the RDA that the council and city staff are “working very hard to try to revamp downtown” and said that “demolishing that building on that block would really set back” that effort.

He acknowledged that if no progress is made in a year or two and the resources can’t be found then “maybe we revisit the issue. We should try to do everything we can to save the building.”

The Warren County Commissioners and county Redevelopment Authority are also planning to see funds from the same program.

It’s believed that only one application per county will be accepted.

RDA Chairman Michael Boyd asked if this puts the city in competition with the county for these funds.

“Yes,” City Manager Nancy Freenock, telling the RDA there are no other “Plan Bs” for how to address this property outside of this funding stream.

She said that the city could join the county’s application – which would be for demolition funds – but noted that the county has a funding stream – federal Community Development Block Grant funds – that can be used for demolition.

“There is no other source of funding we can locate to rehabilitate the Brick House and that is my problem,” Freenock said.

She explained a demolition of the Brick House would be “tricky” because of a shared stairwell with an adjoining building and an addition off the back of the building.

So the city is seeking the funding, she said, to make the building “warm, safe and dry” and then work with a potential developer to complete the rehab.

One of the concerns expressed was that demolition would leave a hole in the block, what City Planner David Hildebrand called the “missing tooth concept.”

He spoke about the fact that the structure is in the city’s historic district.

“The thought is,” he said, “if we can keep this cohesiveness and build off of what is there.”

Boyd asked about the likelihood of procuring the funds.

“Our city manager is a very effective grant writer,” Wortman said.

“The other issue, what I will lobby for,” Freenock said, is that “CDBG is available to the county to use (for) demolition.”

She also said there are other ways that the city can assist the county with demolition and noted that the state Department of Community and Economic Development would rather see properties preserved.

“I feel confident but you never know,” she said, estimating that it would take the full $300,000 to replace the roof and some needed repairs.

Neither the city nor the RDA own the building at this point.

Freenock said an LLC out of Philadelphia bought it out of tax sale and is willing to give the property back. While there are taxes owed, she said the city and school district – but not yet the county – have agreed to waive those.

She said that without action the building would continue to deteriorate with the city needing to take action at some point.

The RDA unanimously passed a motion in support of the grant application.