Cigarette butts littering the curbs.
A crushed soda container in a pothole.
A kitchen trash can filled with debris in a vacant storefront.
Patrick J. Murphy, a Pottsville jeweler, cringed as he spotted garbage near Centre and West Market streets in Pottsville on Wednesday morning.
"It starts with all of us. We have to take some more pride in our downtown and our city," Murphy said.
Hoping to spur enthusiasm, Murphy, who heads the Pottsville Area Development Corp. Downtown Aesthetics Committee, is planning a spring cleanup. It will start at 10 a.m. April 21 at the Arch Street Parking Lot at Centre and Arch streets. The rain date will be April 28.
"We're reaching out to local organizations looking for volunteers. And we're also hoping to be able to give the volunteers a free lunch for helping out," Murphy said Friday.
This is the first initiative of 2013 for the committee.
Established in the late 1980s, PADCO allowed the former Main Street Program to adopt the committee from 2000 to 2005. The city's Elm Street Program took over the committee from 2006 to 2010. In October 2011, PADCO reformed the group.
The last time the committee took to the streets for a cleanup was in April 2012.
While walking downtown on Wednesday, Murphy came upon garbage in the entryway of the empty storefront at the corner of the Thompson Building.
"Pottsville is known for tourism. And I'm just amazed that a lot of property owners don't look at their own buildings," Murphy said.
In March 2011, investment firm Alt Centre 23-27 LLC acquired the 102-year-old, six-story Thompson Building from QNB Bank, Quakertown, Bucks County, for $80,000. The corporation is owned by Lorenzo Tosco Sr. and his two sons, Anthony and Lorenzo Jr., Montgomery County.
In August 2011, the family listed the building for sale for $299,900 through Bonaventure Realty, Collegeville. Now the building is listed for sale through ReMax. According to the realtor's website at remax.com, the property at Centre and Market streets is listed for $305,000.
When contacted about the garbage on Wednesday, Herman Petrecca, a ReMax representative based in Bucks County, said: "It's not ours. Somebody must have put it there."
Petrecca also said the going rate for the building is $299,000.
"It's cheap," he said.
Donald J. Chescavage, city code enforcement officer, visited the area near the Thompson Building Wednesday and decided the city would remove the garbage Thursday.
"I can't trace down where it came from. Something like that is impossible to trace down. It's garbage, which include food scraps, so we can't have it out there," Chescavage said.
Since the perpetrator hasn't been determined, Chescavage isn't going to issue a citation under its city's "Quality of Life" ordinance.
"We'll just keep eyeing the location. It's all we can do," Chescavage said.
Murphy said he wished there were more incentives to encourage businesses to improve their facades.
"There's no actual grant money available for that, but it's something" that has been talked about.
"It's constantly important for us to look at ways to try to make money available for property owners downtown," city Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Wednesday.
Palamar said business owners interested in improving their facades can look into low-interest loans through PADCO.
"Obviously, people do like the incentive of grants," Palamar said.
Anyone interested in joining the aesthetics committee can contact PADCO at 570-628-4647 or Murphy at 570-622-3136.