A former Lansford landmark that, due to years of neglect, has become a dangerous eyesore may soon be only a memory.

On Thursday, the Carbon County Commissioners opened bids for the demolition of the former Elks building, located in the business district on Ridge Street.The building, owned by a New York resident but currently in the county's tax repository for unpaid taxes, has sat vacant for years and has fallen into disrepair, collapsing in on itself in some areas.Lansford is in the process of purchasing the building out of the repository, commissioners said, adding that the county could not use the money earmarked through the state until the building was not privately owned.Only one bid for the demolition project was received. Northeast Industrial Services Corp. of Shamokin submitted the apparent low bid of $99,748 for the demolition and $19,000 for siding the connecting buildings. Carbon County has allocated $127,791 through the Community Development Block Grant program for the demolition project."The reason (for the alternate bid) was the fact that (the Elks building) is in the middle of the row and attached to another building. It is for siding the other building," Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said.Commissioner William O'Gurek said that because of the structure's location in a row of buildings, the county got approval from the state Department of Community and Economic Development to use CDBG money for the additional needed work.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said that the board was a little worried on Wednesday when it only received one bid for the project because projects like this sometimes are ones that contractors don't want to tackle, meaning there is no competition when it comes to the bids coming in for the work."I think we're pretty happy with that price," he said.The county then tabled awarding the contract until next Thursday and turned over the bid to the county office of planning and development, which will make sure it meets the specifications set forth by the county.If everything is in order, the county said the contractor would have until the end of January to complete the demolition.Carbon is handling the demolition project because Lansford is no longer an entitlement community under DCED rules.Lansford was formerly an entitlement community, but after the 2010 census, which showed the population dropped below the 4,000 threshold, was dropped from the entitlement status, meaning it now has to compete for money with other nonentitlement communities in the county.Last September, borough council, after discussing the building's problem for over a year, decided that the building, which has deteriorated to the point of near collapse, should be demolished.The building's roof has gaping holes, and inside floors of the building are collapsing in many places.