By State Sen. Dave Argall

Blighted and decaying buildings have plagued many of our neighborhoods for decades, from Nesquehoning to Weatherly to Palmerton and far beyond. These eyesores can be very dangerous, chase away potential employers from coming here, and drag down the value of other nearby properties.

I saw this in my own neighborhood, growing up in a “half a double” in Tamaqua built in 1917. Finding creative ways to fight back against this scourge is one of my top priorities. Sometimes, these buildings can be renovated and returned to productive use.

There’s no better example of this in our area than historic Jim Thorpe, the Tamaqua Railroad Station, and the No. 9 Mine and Museum in Lansford. Once symbols of blight and decay, so many local sites now bring many visitors to our communities. The train station recently received the national recognition of being placed on a stamp by the U.S. Postal Service - one of only five historic train stations in the nation to receive this unexpected honor.

Last year’s budget process saw bipartisan agreement on a new effort I co-sponsored, the Whole Home Repairs Program. Thanks to this new initiative, $1.04 million will soon be coming to Carbon County and $1.62 million to Schuylkill County to assist many low to moderate income homeowners - including many of our seniors - in making needed repairs to their homes.

Buildings don’t become blighted overnight. This funding will prevent blight before it begins to take hold, and help homeowners stay in their homes.

In addition, the Carbon County commissioners are now taking steps to secure much-needed additional funding for removing blight from our communities. I am a strong supporter of this effort, which has already made a big difference in Schuylkill County.

In the last few years, I have been a part of a coalition of state legislators in our region that have worked together on a bipartisan basis to bring millions in state grants back to our area to demolish many decaying eyesores in our neighborhoods and I will continue to do so - but state dollars alone don’t stretch far enough to meet our urgent needs.

Now, by working with state Reps. Doyle Heffley and Jamie Barton, the county commissioners, and other local leaders in the public and private sectors, we can breathe new life into our communities. Community revitalization doesn’t happen overnight. There are many challenges to addressing these issues, but by all of us working together - local, county, state, and federal government officials; community leaders and volunteers - we can make real progress in transforming our neighborhoods, step by step.

State Sen. Dave Argall represents the 29th District, covering all of Carbon and Schuylkill counties and much of southern Luzerne County.