The heavy downtown business activity in the past year has
recently continued with the sale of three commercial buildings,
including the former Bradford Electronics site.

The former Bradford Electronics Inc. building on High Street has
been sold to Bob Cummins, three years after his initial attempt to
purchase the building.

Cummins, of Bob Cummins Construction Co. in Bradford, said in
2003 he hoped to use the building to provide space for businesses
to locate.

Previously, Cummins said he would not move his company to the
building as he was “happy where I am,” which is on Songbird
Road.

Before the deal was closed in 2003, Cummins became aware of
environmental issues at the building and stopped the transaction.
At that time, he said, “Vishay Intertechnology Inc. didn’t know
when they would be able to bring it into compliance. I decided not
to risk it.”

Vishay Intertechnology Inc. owned the building at that time and
was working with the Pennsylvania Department of Protection to get
soil and water in compliance.

According to officials at the DEP in 2004, Vishay
Intertechnology had submitted a notice of intent to remediate site
soils and ground water that had been affected by industrial
activity due to a previous on-site industrial disposal area.

After that situation came to light, Cummins said he was not sure
if he would be interested in buying the site again after
cleanup.

Apparently he has changed his mind. Cummins could not be reached
for comment on the sale Wednesday night.

Freda Tarbell of the Northwest Regional Office of the DEP could
not be reached for comment on the results of the cleanup.

In June 2003, the listed price for the site through Colligan
Real Estate was $1.25 million. The building sits on 20.27 acres of
land and measures 141,000-square-feet. Bim Colligan of Colligan
Real Estate on Main Street said the property sold to Cummins at 550
High St. and at Owens Way includes 21 acres with about
15,000-square-feet of office space.

The property is included in a Keystone Opportunity Expansion
Zone (KOEZ) making it a tax exempt status until 2013.

The facility was first opened by Corning Glass Works in 1958 and
named Electronic Components Division. The plant was sold in 1987 to
Vishay and AVX Corp. of Great Neck, N.Y., and named Bradford
Electronics.

Merging with Dale Electronics in 1991, the company used the Dale
name for market recognition. In 1998, the company was renamed
Bradford Electronics Inc. and the plant closed in the spring of
2002.

Colligan said he knows the highway department has been out there
using the building. He said he knew Cummins was going to put a
business in there and that was a concern when he was finding a
buyer.

“We wanted to bring something into Bradford,” Colligan said. “We
wanted to develop something for the space. There’s a really big
potential there. Everybody wants to buy it now that it’s sold.”

In addition to the former Bradford Electronics building, two
other downtown commercial buildings have recently been sold.

Kerry Roslinski, who runs Pipe-Eye Sewer Services Inc., a pipe
cleaning and video inspection business, bought a large commercial
building at 75 Holley Ave.

Roslinski said he had been renting the building for his business
before he bought it, adding the owner he was renting from is the
daughter of a previous owner, now deceased, who used the building
for Allegheny Excavation.

Roslinski said if business is demanding enough he could expand
his business to the building on Holley Avenue.

“In the future, there’s enough land there that if business
warrants it, I’ll probably expand on it,” Roslinski said about the
building on Holley Avenue. “I’ll probably build another building
out back.”

Also, John Vinelli bought the American Automobile Association
(AAA) building at 587 South Ave., and a day care center at 579
South Ave., with a couple of vacant spaces.

Vinelli said the AAA business and the day care center will
remain in business at those locations, but according to Bim
Colligan, there are two offices and a basement available for lease.
Vinelli said at this time the only plans he has for the space is to
make them available for lease.

“The office spaces are nice,” Vinelli said. “It’s a nice space
for a doctor’s office with easy access too. It’s a nice retail
space available out there in a nice location with plenty of
parking.”