(a) Whenever the city council of any city of the first class shall find and determine that any alley or other passageway across any particular block within the city is not needed for highway purposes and that the welfare of the city will be enhanced or promoted by the closing and abandoning of the alley or passageway, the city council shall have authority, acting by and through its mayor and city clerk and pursuant to resolution of the council, to join in a written agreement with the owners of all the real estate of the block to close and abandon the alley or passageway.

(b) Upon the proper execution and acknowledgment of the instrument and the filing of it in the office of the proper circuit clerk and recorder, the title to the alley or passageway so abandoned shall vest in the owners of the real estate adjacent thereto, each adjacent owner taking title to the middle of the alley or passageway.

(c) Express authority is granted and conferred upon cities of the first class to close and abandon alleys or other passageways in this manner.

(d) However, any owner of property in the vicinity of the alley, feeling aggrieved by the action, may file suit within thirty (30) days after the filing of the instrument in the office of the circuit clerk and recorder to have the court determine whether he has been especially damaged by the action.

(e) Any person, firm, or corporation which has erected or installed any conduit, pipe, cable, pole, or overhead wire along or across any such alley or passageway shall be considered a property owner whose consent to the closing of the alley or passageway must be secured as provided in this section.