Land Bank: Ocie Hill demolition almost done

Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal
·4 min read
The walls of the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center fall during demolition Wednesday morning.
The walls of the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center fall during demolition Wednesday morning.

The former Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center building is expected to be completely demolished in two to three weeks, Richland County Land Bank board members were told Wednesday during their monthly meeting at the Richland County Courthouse.

C & J Construction of Cleveland has made substantial progress with the demolition, having started on Monday at the site at Harker and Bowman streets, Land Bank Manager Amy Hamrick said. The final step, the planting of grass seed, will depend on the weather, she added.

Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center:

A Mansfield City Schools bus passes the former Creveling School, most recently known as Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center, as the building is being demolished.
A Mansfield City Schools bus passes the former Creveling School, most recently known as Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center, as the building is being demolished.

Wednesday, the board confirmed an email vote approving the Ocie Hill change order to remove additional asbestos-containing materials beneath 20,000 square feet of tiles on the second and third floors for a cost of $38,200.

The state had announced in October the Land Bank had been awarded up to $2 million for the Ocie Hill project, part of the $500 million statewide for demolition and brownfield remediation.

The demolition projects are being funded as part of the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, developed to help local communities tear down dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and revitalize surrounding properties to attract investments, businesses, and jobs, according to the Land Bank.

Ocie Hill, a community building for numerous agencies in recent years on the city's north end, was closed in March 2020 for safety reasons. Repair and maintenance of the building were cost-prohibitive, officials said. Initially it was the home of Creveling School.

The building was named for Ocie Hill, the first Black resident to be elected to Mansfield City Council.

Jackie Rawls uses her phone to record the demolition of the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center on Wednesday morning. Rawls was a student in the building from kindergarten until 6th grade when it was known as Creveling School.
Jackie Rawls uses her phone to record the demolition of the Ocie Hill Neighborhood Center on Wednesday morning. Rawls was a student in the building from kindergarten until 6th grade when it was known as Creveling School.

Free bricks from former Westinghouse "A" Building available

Hamrick said the Crestline demolition contractor will pick Westinghouse "A" Building bricks from the rubble for $1,020 and stack them on pallets that they will put outside of the fenced area during working hours.

Effective Monday, March 6, the Land Bank is making the bricks from the former Westinghouse "A" Building available to the public free of charge.

Members of the public who wish to have a brick may find one on the pallets outside the fenced area on East Fourth Street, Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. (weather permitting) while bricks last.

The former Westinghouse "A" Building, shown here in December 2022, has been demolished.
The former Westinghouse "A" Building, shown here in December 2022, has been demolished.

The bricks are available on a first-come, first served basis. The land bank cordially asked individuals desiring a brick from the (A) Building to respect the continued demolition taking place at the former Westinghouse site. No unauthorized individuals may enter the fenced area nor any active Westinghouse work area for any reason without express written permission from the Land Bank.

Westinghouse update:

Crews from R&D Excavating of Crestline are still working at the East Fifth Street site on digging up the dirt to check for contamination.

The former Westinghouse "A" building has been demolished.

Members of the Richland County Land Bank board worked throughout the year to successfully coordinate the removal of the historic doorway from the Westinghouse building, to be used for a future memorial at the site to honor Westinghouse, Mansfield’s manufacturing history and the history of women in the work force.

In April 2022, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was in Mansfield to announce the first round of the Ohio Department of Development Brownfield Program awards, providing funds for demolition and remediation of the former Westinghouse "A" building and the concrete slab along West Fifth Street. The governor announced the Mansfield project is getting $3 million for cleanup of petroleum tanks and hazardous materials and demolition. City and county funds, in the amount of $500,000 each, also were designated for the project.

Daisy Barker House:

The first home in Richland County built and owned by African Americans, condemned in April 2022, is in imminent danger of falling down.

The Land Bank took ownership of the house at 89 Wood St. on July 14, 2022.

Wednesday, a PowerPoint presentation showed updated photos inside the house. Hamrick said it was hard to tell if the interior structural beam in the kitchen was "bowing more."

Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero said he would make a couple of calls to individuals who earlier expressed interest in saving the house.

Also, Hamrick announced that she had signed up the Land Bank for one-year extensions offered by the state for completion of demolition and cleanup for Ocie Hill, Westinghouse, the Swan Cleaners site downtown and the Madison Fire Department, Expressview Drive sites. Completion dates would be in 2024.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Free Westinghouse bricks starting Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.