THOMASVILLE, N.C. — Cities across the Triad are making moves to address vacant commercial buildings.
Whether it's demolition, revitalization, or trying to encourage property owners to do something, cities say they are doing everything they can.
The city of Greensboro said the News and Record building is set to be demolished.
Two smaller buildings already came down on the property, but the entire structure will be gone after asbestosis remediation.
But, as far as vacant buildings like this are concerned, they can cause a lot of issues if not addressed.
The city of Greensboro said it makes sure vacant buildings are up to code for health and safety.
It also tries to encourage property owners to do something about the buildings, or even sell them if possible. But this process is easier said than done.
Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan said, "It's not that there's not a plan in place. It's that there's very little that we can do. One area that gets a lot of notice obviously are the vacant storefronts on Elm Street, and it certainly isn't for lack of trying to get those landowners to be good landowners."
Other cities are experiencing the same thing.
The City of Thomasville said it is working to address the vacant buildings it has had from years ago when the city was a major textile and furniture hub.
Michael Brandt, City of Thomasville manager said, "It's certainly been something that we've been encouraging owners to address. The good news is that they are starting to address that. We also believe that there's been some impact by the fact that we've been accepted into the Main Street program, which is an economic revitalization program for downtown."
The City of Burlington is currently trying to revitalize Western Electric.
"What we really try to do is we try to promote the opportunity of growth with these buildings, and reuse of these buildings, and we take advantage of the North Carolina Department of Commerce's building reuse plan because it falls nicely into support of these types of buildings," said Michael Littell, Business Retention and Expansion Manager for the City of Burlington.
A lot of cities said they follow a specific statute in our state laws. That statute states that if a building is considered unsafe, it can be condemned. The City of High Point said they follow this, and act accordingly.