JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WJAC) — At least 50 vacant structures are coming down this year.

They are dangerous eyesores in the Hornerstown, Kernville and Prospect neighborhoods.

Allen Hinton has lived in Prospect for just about all of his life. And today brings a glimmer of hope.

“I said praise the Lord,” Hinton said. “It's about time.”

Run-down box houses in his neighborhood along William Penn Avenue will be no more.

“Rodents, people filling them up with trash and stuff,” Hinton explains. “I'd just be glad to have them gone.”

They've been a source of frustration for both locals and leaders in the Johnstown area.

"I don't think i'm allowed to ride the bulldozer but if I could.. they're gone they're going down," says Mike Kane, who is with the foundation.

The eyesores will soon be replaced with an urban fruit orchard: Positive space for those who live there.

“They are the boots on the ground that are willing to take ownership to these properties,” says Melissa Komar, executive director of the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority. “They want to see the blight eliminated and their hearts are here.”

The authority will carry out the blight removal, made possible through a partnership with the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.

“We're doing this through our fund for the future, and through a private donation that came into that fund,” says Kane.

“$650-700k --- it's a lot of money and it's gonna do a lot of good,” Hinton says.

“I think it’s a blessing.”

And a gift, in the continuing reinvention of the city.

“We're trying to have a neighborhood up here too,” Hinton says.

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