The owner of a long-blighted property at 204 Center Ave. in Jim Thorpe borough has signed a stipulation agreement that will clear the way for the municipality to tear down the home and stabilize the home next door.

Jim Thorpe filed a complaint in Carbon County Court earlier this year asking a judge to force the person or people behind Emma and James Owen Real Estate LLC, the current owners, to tear down 204 Center Ave. Barbara Gonclaves was determined to be one of the current owners.

Council will vote on the stipulation agreement next week as well as an authorization of services for Barry Isett and Associates to start engineering work on the demolition of 204 Center Ave. and the stabilization of 206 Center Ave., which shares a common wall with the blighted home.

The home at 204 Center Ave. was slated to be torn down using part of a combined state grant the municipality partnered with Palmerton and Lehighton boroughs to receive in 2021.

Jim Thorpe, however, said it did not have enough grant money left at that point to cover post-demolition remediation to 206 Center Ave. Sterner said there is over $100,000 remaining for Jim Thorpe to use from that grant.

“We did talk to the Department of Community and Economic Development and convinced them to include some stabilization items to 206 Center in this grant,” Sterner said Thursday. “As long as DCED approves the project scope, we should have enough left in the grant to pay for demolition and stabilization.”

If everything goes smoothly, Sterner added, the borough could award bids in December with work starting this winter.

Since 2013, 204 Center Ave. has been the subject of violations of the Jim Thorpe International Property Maintenance Code.

A notice of violations had been given to the prior owner of the property, Irene A. Dever and, in 2017, the borough filed a civil complaint against Dever, according to Borough Solicitor James Nanovic.

The relief requested in the complaint was to remove the “great deal of debris, junk and personal property in the property.”

Dever did not take any action to address the violations of the property maintenance code.

The property, Nanovic said, was later sold for taxes and purchased by Ronald Spiegel LLC, which subsequently conveyed the property by a deed dated March 2, 2020, to the current LLC.

A memorandum from Barry Isett & Associates, Inc. to the borough in 2018 outlined structural assessment concerns for the vacant Jim Thorpe home.

The report noted “a severe deterioration of the roof, siding, interior finishes, and structural elements due to long-term exposure to weather and lack of maintenance.”

Specific issues include a “roof and roof deck collapsed and severely deteriorated, front porch roof and siding deteriorated with visible water stains, windows broken or displaced and framing rotted, organic growth and moisture damage throughout the interior, and structural elements like wood joists and foundations severely deteriorated.”

A reassessment in February 2024 showed “continued deterioration and collapse of the roof and floors, with significant exposure to the elements. The condition of the property has worsened, confirming the need for prompt demolition to prevent further collapse.”

The project moving forward is welcome news to Jim Thorpe residents including Trish Spillman.

“The community is ready to help the family in 206 Center Ave.,” she said Thursday. “If they need to relocate for a week or two while the work is going on, we’re ready to step up.”