106-8 E. Eighth St., Covington

Doug Trapp

Address: 106-8 E. Eighth St., Covington

Owner: Les Whitling Reporting Service

Value: $60,000

Year Built: Unknown

Comments: How could a defunct court reporting company still own a building? On the surface, that seems to be the case with this white, boarded-up three-story structure just off Scott Street in Covington.

But the records at the Kenton County Property Valuation Administration are misleading.

They say the Les Whitling Reporting Service Inc. owns it, but that business hasn't operated in Northern Kentucky in 20 years, according to Whitling's wife, who moved with him to Russell, Pa. more than 20 years ago. Around that time they sold the building to C.J. Vieth and the CJV Reporting Company of West Fourth Street in Newport.

Vieth is now negotiating the final details of a sale that would relocate his office to the building. Vieth says he doesn't know if the building will be used for housing as well, but he seemed sure the building will not remain vacant.

"It's not going to be a blight on the community," he says. "It's going to be renovated and redeveloped."

Vieth says traffic from Newport on the Levee is leading him to relocate his business to Covington.

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BLIGHT OF THE WEEK is an effort to highlight the problem of abandoned buildings -- and who's responsible for them.