Construction activity in Petersburg picked up a little last year.

The local government issued more permits for building construction and renovations in 2013 than it did the year before.

The Petersburg borough’s building official Leo Luczak compiles the annual numbers. “Well we had over over 2.6 million dollars in new building project evaluations, or values, excuse me, and 86 building permits, that’s up from 64 last year, five new houses, as opposed to two, or maybe it was three the year before and permit revenue was about the same,” Luczak said.

Total value of new buildings constructed in Petersburg last year was over $2.6 million. Some $1.7 million worth of that was in new commercial or industrial buildings, almost nine hundred thousand dollars worth was in new residential home construction.

Luczak expects the construction to continue in 2014. “I think it’s a busy building year once again. I know all the contractors I talk to are booked up. Looks like things are going just fine in the permitting and building aspects.”

Permit numbers in the early part of this century are well below peak construction years during the mid-90s when the city of Petersburg saw several years with over 200 permits issued.