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US-PENNSYLVANIA-REDUCTION
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Handout photo of David Stawovy, owner and manager of the town,
walks down a street in Reduction, Pennsylvania
Handout photo of David Stawovy, owner and manager of the town,
poses in front of one of the houses in Reduction, Pennsylvania
The aptly named town is home to 60 residents, down from 400 in
its heyday. They live in 19 tidy brick houses, paying rent to
the Stawovy family, proprietors of the unincorporated village
for the past 70 years. The asking price includes a one-room
schoolhouse that was long ago converted into a duplex residence.
The plant, built by American Reduction Co on a wide bend of the
Youghiogheny River, shut down in 1936 after processing waste
from the city of Pittsburgh since the early 20th century.
Workers would render animal carcasses, and separate metal from
household waste for resale.
“This was the original recycling plant,” said David Stawovy, 67,
who owns Reduction with his three siblings.
In 1948, David's father, John, owned an adjoining farm and was
thinking about buying one of the larger homes in Reduction for
his growing family. At one time, he would have had 28 from which
to choose.
"My mother and dad wanted their own place," David Stawovy said,
"and the man said: 'Why don’t you buy them all?'”
The senior Stawovy ended up doing just that, paying $10,000 for
the place, lock, stock and barrel. It was a decision he never
regretted, or at least never admitted regretting, his son said.
“He never complained. He made a living on it,” said the younger
Stawovy.
All that is left of the processing plant is the foundation,
Stawovy said. Once the town dump contained a treasure trove of
collectible bottles, but it was wiped clean years ago.
Stawovy said his advancing age and the nursing home care his
parents needed before their recent deaths led the family to put
Reduction up for sale. He needs to sell so his siblings can cash
out their shares of the inheritance.
“We’d like to travel,” he said. “We don’t need the aggravation.”
(Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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