LAWRENCE COUNTY Officials to seek appraiser to evaluate nursing home

County officials are preparing to repair the government center roof.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County commissioners agreed to look for a professional appraiser to evaluate the county nursing home.
The nursing home and the 37 acres it sits on will be vacant by month's end. Commissioners decided to close it last year after a failed attempt to sell the home and land. The patient population began to steadily decline after the sale failed.
Commissioners said they expect to exclude a cemetery on the property from any future sale and have it maintained by the county. The cemetery was used when the land was part of the county poor farm before becoming a nursing home.
The last nursing-home patient left earlier this month and employees are going through inventory and cleaning out the building.
Buying equipment
In other business, Lawrence County commissioners agreed to buy water rescue craft equipment from Bianco Marine of Girard. The $6,436 will come from a planning and training grant the county got from the state. The equipment will be owned by the local volunteer fire companies in the county.
The Neshannock Township Fire Department asked for the equipment after a man was lost in the Neshannock Creek last year and firefighters spent days looking for his body. Equipment had to be sent in from Beaver and Allegheny counties for the search. The man's body was never recovered.
County commissioners also agreed to contact E.G. Eckles Architects to prepare specifications for the repair of the Government Center roof. The center was built in 1978 and the flat asphalt roof is leaking, officials said.
The cost is not known yet. It will be paid from a county bond issue taken out to partially pay for building improvements.
cioffi@vindy.com