Former restaurant to be demolished

July 6, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

Austintown

The former Scacchetti’s Restaurant will be demolished after fire ripped through it last month.

Andy Frost III, assistant Austintown fire chief, said the fire was unintentionally set June 4 by men doing work inside the building. The workers were contracted by the building’s owner, Frost said.

Mahoning County property-tax records show that the building was sold last March by Scacchetti’s Inc. to SVC 1 LLC of Mahoning Avenue for $79,750.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office records show that SVC 1 was incorporated last February by Samuel Vincent Cianciola, who couldn’t be reached.

“We think when they were tearing down the hooded fire-suppression system, they got into some electrical wires,” Frost said.

Austintown fire officials determined the restaurant to be a total loss, and the building was declared a nuisance by township trustees.

Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, said the building, at 3781 Mahoning Ave., is now on the township’s demolition list along with eight other properties.

He said the property’s owner discussed paying for the demolition himself, though Crivelli said no plans have been finalized.

“It’s going to be a little while before I’m able to put it out to bid myself, so I’m hoping the owner razes it before that,” Crivelli said.

The zoning inspector said he doesn’t have an estimated price for the demolition, should the township have to perform it, but said it likely will be expensive.

“I did talk to Mahoning-Trumbull Air Pollution Control, and they’re going to require the building to be bagged and taken to an asbestos dump,” he said.

Tara Cioffi, administrator for air-pollution control, said under normal circumstances, a fire-damaged structure would need an asbestos survey before demolition could happen, but because the former restaurant was declared structurally unsound, the demolition can occur without the survey.

“In this case, the whole building would have to be assumed to have asbestos and sent to a regulated asbestos landfill,” she said.