T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM The city has demolished a blighted house on Center Street. Work to clear the site is under way and will continue throughout the week.

MARTINS FERRY — Thanks to the city mayor’s skillset and former demolition company, the city was able to save more than $20,000 tearing down a dilapidated home on Center Street.

Demolition of the home on the 400 block of Center Street began Monday.

Mayor John Davies, who previously owned and operated a demolition and construction company, has been able to save the city thousands of dollars by doing the demolition work himself using his own equipment.

“I have all the equipment, I might as well put it to use,” he said.

The city has been working to have the house razed for more than a year.

Davies said they were unable to do so before due to the homeowner being in an assisted living facility and being unable to gain her permission.

Last month, the building began to collapse making it an imminent danger which gave council authority to declare the teardown an emergency.

Council originally approved $34,000 for the raze of the home; however, because Davies did the labor himself, it will only cost the city around $11,000 for having the leftover material hauled away and placed in the landfill. Davies does all the work for free, which means the city can get more done.

Davies said they are working to haul out the materials this week with the job completion set for sometime next week. He said the property still has a $24,000 tax lien on it. Once the debris is cleared out, he said he may suggest council remove the tax lien so the property can be sold to someone.

This is the second blighted home that the city has torn down since last month with the first being located on Ellett Street. Davies said he is hoping more will follow. A third demolition is planned for a property on Fifth Street, the former Rose Cafe, which the owner signed over to the city.

“It takes longer to get the paperwork done than it does to do the work. … We’re not sure when everything will be finalized but when it is it won’t take long after that,” he said.

“Everything takes time. People need to understand that it’s about three or four months, if everything goes smoothly, to get one of these houses down. Before the problem was money but now since we do most of the work ourselves, it’s relatively cheap. … So we’re hoping to get a few more done.”

Davies said they are trying to make the city a better place for residents.

“We’re trying to remove the blights. We’re never going to be able to remove them all, but we’re trying to remove what we can. It’s a start,” he added.