PennDOT has deemed all fabric-covered buildings, like this one just off the Arch Rock Road exit of U.S. 22/322 near Mifflintown, unsafe meaning they will have to be demolished and rebuilt. Sentinel photo by BUFFIE BOYER

LEWISTOWN — Local contractor Dave Miller, owner of Penn State Construction in McVeytown, doesn’t understand why the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was so quick to condemn over 140 tension fabric-covered buildings. Miller is one of many contractors in Pennsylvania who installs and maintains these buildings that are often used to store salt or other materials for de-icing roadways in the winter, but now, these buildings are scheduled to be demolished. Miller had several projects lined up with PennDOT, but when the agency ruled these fabric-covered buildings unsafe, they pulled the plug on these building projects Miller had managed to secure for his company. According to PennDOT documents, the agency is conducting an “emergency solicitation” for work involving the demolition of more than 140 of these buildings and the construction of more than 100 new buildings.