Six years ago, Jeanne Will, a member of the South Park Historical Society, made a public plea for the preservation of the original farmhouses that dot the landscape of the county's South Park.

At the time, she was noticing deterioration in the handful of houses that had sat empty for several years after the county raised the rent it had been charging. In particular, she was interested in the stately white farmhouse with a double-deck porch that wraps around three of its sides, a house which sits next to the ice rink on Corrigan Drive.

The house originally was owned by the Maits family, whose farm was purchased or taken by eminent domain by Allegheny County in the late 1920s to form the park.

Six years ago, the house was starting to show deterioration, with paint peeling and chipping and balusters missing on the porch.

Today, the house looks to be in far worse condition. It is surrounded by orange plastic fencing and waist-high grass. The front door is nailed shut with a piece of plywood which holds a "No Trespassing" sign. Much of the railing around the porch is falling apart.

Both levels of the porch sag and the rear upper level appears to be separating from the house. Concern about the structural integrity of the house a while back prompted county officials to stop allowing law enforcement officers to use it for practicing raids.

When Mrs. Will made her plea for the restoration of the house in January 2000, she was heard loud and clear by public officials, including Tim Murphy, who, at the time, was a state senator, and county Councilman Vince Gastgeb, who, at the time, was the chairman of County Council's parks steering committee.

Mr. Murphy, a Republican from Upper St. Clair who was a supporter of the county parks and had attained $1 million in grant money for a student of the county's nine-park system, has since been elected to Congress.

There had been talk among the elected officials and the county administrators about the idea of forming a parks foundation to raise money to restore the Maits home and others that were deteriorating in the park.

Another idea was to find private groups that would be willing to adopt the structures and renovate them, possibly turning them into museums like the Oliver Miller Homestead in South Park or into privately run bed-and-breakfasts.

But to date, it appears nothing has been done.

Tear down?

"Nothing has been done in the park to improve or repair the old houses. I am afraid the next move will be to tear them down," Mrs. Will, of Jefferson Hills, wrote in a recent e-mail.

Mrs. Will might be correct.

County Public Works Director Tom Donatelli said of the Maits house: "It's almost to the point where you can't save it. We would have to put an enormous amount of money into it and the county doesn't have it."

Allegheny County Parks Director Andrew Baechle agreed with Mr. Donatelli that the Maits house is approaching a point where it will have to be taken down. But, he said, the county won't do that unless it is absolutely necessary.

"We understand the historical significance of these structures and we don't want to give up on a dream," he said.

Two other deteriorating houses in the park that are in visible locations are the one at the game preserve and one on McKonkey Road, near the entrance to the wave pool. Near the house on McKonkey is a barn that is severely deteriorated.

"All of the old barns in and around Allegheny and Washington counties are slowly but surely disappearing," Mrs. Will said.

Both the houses at the game preserve and on McKonkey Road have their doors nailed shut with plywood. The game preserve house has its entrance taped off with yellow "caution" tape. The awning over the roof is sagging and pieces of the gutter are hanging off.

At one time, county officials had hoped to operate a nature center there with help from the State Game Commission and Community College of Allegheny County. But that never happened. Mr. Baechle said he'd still like it to.

County Councilwoman Joan Clearly, D-Brentwood, who is chairwoman of council's parks committee, said the deterioration of the Maits house and other empty farmhouses in South Park is part of $120 million in deferred maintenance in the county's park system.

Because the houses are empty and not used by the public, they end up low on the priority list for maintenance, she said. "We look more at maintaining things that are used regularly," Ms. Cleary said.

Mr. Donatelli said a number of new projects had been undertaken in the park in recent years, including new playground equipment, the leash-free dog park, the flag retirement area and the soon-to-be-built action park. In addition, $1 million was put into renovating the ice rink

But, he said, money for restoration projects is much more difficult to come by.

Allegheny County Councilman Vince Gastgeb, R-Bethel Park, former chairman of council's parks steering committee, said he had been frustrated by a delay in the formation of a foundation or nonprofit arm of the county Parks Department. He raised the issue in August 2004. He would like to see the creation of an organization similar to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, which raises money for city parks.

Creating a parks foundation was identified in 2001 as a key component of making major improvements in the parks in the master study that was done of the county parks by the Philadelphia consulting firm Wallace Roberts & Todd. The study was funded, in part, by the $1 million garnered by Mr. Murphy when he was in the state Senate.

Money the problem

Mr. Baechle said the lack of a parks foundation was not a major impediment to getting the houses fixed. He said the county could accept grants or foundation money for a restoration project without forming its own foundation.

The biggest stumbling block is finding the money.

"People and groups are interested in these houses, but none that have the money that is needed," Mr. Baechle said.

But, Mr. Gastgeb, said it's unlikely that individuals or organizations would offer funds without a parks foundation. "People aren't going to give money to government when there is no strategy, no plan and no way to know where your money is going to go," he said.

Mr. Donatelli said he didn't want to raze any of the homes or barns, given their historical significance. But if they get to the point where they are in danger of collapsing, they would be considered a hazard and would have to come down.

He said the cost of razing them, probably several thousand dollars, would be significantly less than the cost of refurbishing them. He estimated the restoration of the Maits house could run as high as $400,000.

"We will hang onto these houses until the last possible minute," Mr. Donatelli said. "I'm always hopeful that somebody will come along and form a partnership with a company that will restore these buildings."