Second crane arrives to hasten demolition of Youngstown's Realty Building

The crew demolishing the blast-damaged Realty Building in Youngstown brought another wrecking ball to speed up work there.

A second crane arrived at the downtown demolition site early Monday as crews work to meet Friday’s target date to take down the fifth floor and higher so tenants of the nearby International Towers can return to their apartments.

Engineers determined that the instability of the Realty Tower posed a hazard to International Towers, home to elderly and disabled residents.

Charitable organizations have been helping pay for 173 International Tower residents to stay elsewhere while demolition occurred.  However, funds to cover those costs are dwindling.

Experts believe it was a natural gas explosion on May 28 that killed one person, and damaged the Realty Building beyond repair.