JOHNSTOWN — Department of Public Works crews razed the old H&J Leather building at 312 N. Perry St. Tuesday, one in a series of projects to rid the city of old tanneries.

The plan is to market the lots after the buildings are gone.

City Engineer Chad Kortz said the project went well, although there’s a lot of cleanup work to come.

“There was a garage that was pretty close on the one side but we went right by it. … We’ll probably be there into next week cleaning it up.”

H&J is the last of five buildings targeted in the current round of demolition projects.

Other buildings already demolished include 19 Grove St., the former Apex Leather building; 314 N. Perry St., the former Gloria’s Pizzeria; a one-family home at 13 Hoosac St.; and 422-28 N. Perry St., the former Alliance Leather.

Alliance is actually about half gone. All of the asbestos has been removed and salvage workers have removed metal for recycling.

Alliance and 311 W. State St., a former tannery known as the Snake Pit because reptile skins were tanned there, will be razed in the next round either later this year or early next year, Kortz said.

The city is hoping to secure grants from both the state and federal governments to take down the Snake Pit.

The city is also working on a parallel track to prepare the building for demolition by the DPW if the grants fall through.

The whole process takes about 3 to 6 months, starting with a determination from the city engineer’s office that demolition is the preferred option.

The buildings are inspected, asbestos and scrap metal is removed, and utilities are disconnected before the work begins.

To date the city has obtained nearly $40,000 from scrap salvaged from the demolished properties, according to the city engineer, and another $12,000 is expected to be received from future salvage operations this year.