Tioga County Land Bank demolishes blighted properties

OWEGO, N.Y. — The Tioga County Property Development Corporation (Tioga County Land Bank) has begun the process of demolishing eight residential structures and two sheds that it owns in the village of Owego.

LCP Group is completing the demolition in coordination with O’Rourke Inc., the firm handling air monitoring for the project.

The structures, located on Temple Street and Liberty Street, have been a source of blight for many years, especially since flooding caused by Tropical Storm Lee in 2011.

“We are excited to see this project underway,” Tioga County Land Bank Director Brittany Woodburn said in a news release. “The Land Bank acquired these properties throughout 2020 and 2021, and the removal of these distressed structures will eliminate significant blight in this neighborhood and allow for new opportunities for the residents of Liberty Street and Temple Street and the surrounding area.”

“We are pleased to be able to bring this project to life and are looking forward to similarly partnering with our other communities in the future to help combat blight and deterioration and revitalize housing, neighborhoods, and downtowns throughout Tioga County,” Land Bank Board Chair Ralph Kelsey said.

The Tioga County Land Bank is a not-for-profit organization focused on the management and use of an inventory of underused, abandoned, or foreclosed property in Tioga County. The goal is to maximize the properties to their best possible reuse, return properties to the tax roll, and develop a land bank program to decrease the amount of distressed properties.