Warren County received $500,000 to accomplish this goal.
The initial callout for the program began back in January. Warren County officials applied for the grant, and then got to work to figure out which structures needed to be torn down.
They worked with city, township, and village leaders to learn what each community had in mind.
“We reached out to all the communities at a higher level,” Candace Miller, an economic specialist with Warren County, said. “You know, is it blighted? Is it vacant? Did it have these uses that were eligible? Then we just kind of saw what we got back.”
Initially, Warren County submitted six potential projects. However, three of those projects ultimately had their plans for demolition changed. Owners of these buildings, two of which are privately owned and one of which is owned by the city of Lebanon, are instead looking at other options.
“We kind of came in with a few projects that are not going to end up coming all the way through,” Matt Schnipke, Warren County’s economic director, said. “But the ones that we were able to take advantage of [the grant] on, I think it’s a help to those communities.”
A storage facility on Lower Springboro Road in Springboro was demolished and will be replaced by a more modern facility in the future.
An old hotel on Bardes Road in Mason was torn down earlier this year to make room for a commercial or mixed used space.
Finally, a building on North Broadway in Lebanon was demolished earlier this year as part of the North Broadway redevelopment project.
“We are actively looking at what to do with the excess in funding,” Schnipke said. He identified the old Warren County jail in Lebanon as a potential project, but conversations are still ongoing.
In total, the state awarded $150 million in grants for projects across the state. 2,277 blighted and vacant structures across 42 counties were identified. These structures are in addition to the 825 projects announced in October.
You can find a full list of projects here.
