Asbestos Halts Demolition Of House

By Dominic Sama, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: February 17, 1991

The demolition of a 102-year Victorian house in Radnor for a parking lot was halted Thursday after asbestos was discovered inside.

The three-story, neglected house at 111 Runnymede Ave. was purchased by Radnor Township for $182,700 last year despite protests from nearby residents. Last week the commissioners awarded a bid of $12,740 for the demolition and cleanup.

Asbestos was found in insulation around pipes in a routine inspection and was removed Thursday and Friday. The structure is scheduled to be demolished tomorrow.

The 70-by-316-foot property will be used in a three-way land swap with the township, the Radnor Fire Company and the school district, which needs parking for faculty of the nearby middle school. The lot could accommodate up to 54 vehicles.

The township will pave the property and give the land to the school district. In exchange, the school district will give the township a strip of its land adjoining the fire company. The township will give that strip to the fire company for expansion.

Nearby residents had protested the demolition, saying the home was eligible to be named to the National Register of Historic Places and could be restored for about $30,000. Further, they said, the parking lot could not be built in a residential district.

The house, however, was dilapidated and would have cost $202,655 to restore, township officials said. Radnor Solicitor Eugene H. Evans said the township was exempted from the zoning code and could build the parking lot.

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