Revitalization of Youngsville owns the former Fairmont Tavern.

But that’s just one piece of a multi-phase puzzle that aims to turn the lot into a community greenspace.

ROY is hoping that Youngsville Borough will be a piece of the financial puzzle.

ROY President John Papalia told council that they’ve received “a couple ranges” for asbestos removal and demolition and are awaiting firm numbers.

Those ranges, he said, place the cost of demolition in the area of $65,000, with $16,000-$18,000 of that total just asbestos remediation.

“Our group is committed to finding the funds for demolition,” he said, asking council to consider a request of up to $20,000 to help with the asbestos piece.

“This has been the elephant in the room for so many years for our community,” Mayor Scot Nelson said, thanking ROY for its effort.

“It definitely is a risk for our organization,” Papalia said, noting that three-fourths of the group’s funds have been spent to get to this point.

“It’s going to benefit the borough to invest in that property,” Borough Manager Wendy Wilcox said. “I would like to see if those funds are needed to make it happen, that we would do that.”

Councilman Rick Brewster cited a downtown study that called for some greenspace downtown.

“It does fit into the philosophy of what ROY was developed for from the start,” he said.

Brewster said the borough has funds set aside for phase two streetscape that could be accessed for this project without requiring a budget adjustment.

“It’s a logical progression of what the borough needs to do to try to move forward,” he stressed. “It seems like the logical next step to try to figure it out.”

Council asked ROY to provide firm numbers when they have them.

“This has been a big step for our community for sure,” Nelson said.

Getting the building down is phase two of the effort and Papalia said that ROY would like to work with the borough throughout the phases.

“Nothing good happens without community collaboration,” he said.