Holidaysburg council finds former Treece Music building dangerous, sets repair deadlines

Holidaysburg, Pa. — The borough council on July 10 approved an order finding the former Treece Music building at 316 Allegheny Street a dangerous structure and set staged deadlines for repairs and cleanup after an inspection documented open windows, water and animal damage, and structurally spongy floors.

The hearing was led by Borough Solicitor Nathan Karn, who reviewed inspection reports and exhibits and questioned a borough inspector about the condition of the building. The inspector testified he found “a couple open windows where both the weather and the animals were able to get through into the building,” and cited interior water damage, animal feces in the storefront, packed mail, and collapsing ceiling and floor conditions on upper stories.

The action follows a series of inspections and notices: exterior inspections beginning Oct. 9, 2024; a notice of violation with a compliance date of Nov. 11, 2024; follow-up inspections on Nov. 14, 2024, Feb. 28, 2025, and March 17, 2025; and a May 5, 2025 interior inspection conducted with owner authorization from a former employee who had keys. The March report included a blight-committee finding that the property met five of eight criteria used by the committee to prioritize remediation. Borough staff said certified mail to the property owner, identified in the record as Mr. Dell, was not returned as signed at several mailings, and that the owner had not contacted the borough to dispute or respond to the notices prior to the hearing.

Karn told council the borough’s immediate priorities were to stop weather and animal access and to limit further interior degradation: “a priority issue is to get the windows . . . closed and to replace the broken window,” he said. Council discussed staged remediation: (1) seal or replace broken windows to prevent entry and further weather damage; (2) clean out the interior debris and contaminated material so contractors can access structural elements; and (3) repair leaking roof sections and structural flooring that are failing.

Council approved the hearing report and set deadlines tied to the date the borough sends formal written notice: windows to be secured within 30 days of the letter (estimated as August 11, 2025), the building cleanout also to be completed by August 11, 2025, and repairs to the roof and second-floor structure to be completed by October 11, 2025. Council also directed staff to include language in the order that failure to complete the first two items would automatically accelerate enforcement so the property would be in violation of all three remedies by August 15, 2025.

No one representing the property owner appeared at the hearing to contest the evidence or present an alternate remediation plan. Borough staff compiled the record into exhibits that include the deed, an obituary reflecting a prior owner’s status, inspection reports, notices of violation, and the blight committee analysis; staff will issue a final clean copy of the hearing report for signature and enforcement once council’s direction is formalized.

The council’s action authorizes staff to proceed under the borough’s dangerous-structure procedures, including issuing an order to the owner with the deadlines above and seeking borough remediation and cost recovery if the owner fails to comply. Council did not at the hearing authorize immediate borough-funded remediation; staff explained the typical path is notice, owner compliance, then council consideration of borough-conducted remedies and liens only if owner noncompliance continues.

The hearing record remains open to documentation and the borough will file the exhibits with the hearing report as part of the enforcement record.