Greene County is one of the 42 counties taking part in the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program.
The county received over $260,000 to demolish six properties – five residential and one commercial. All but two will remain green spaces once they’re torn down.
Kristie Tidd is the manager of Greene County’s Department of Development. She said they worked with local towns and villages to identify which properties to work on.
“We did put everything back on the local jurisdiction, so we had the local jurisdictions submit properties to us,” she said. “They prioritized those based upon their community needs.”
So far, only a property on Paintersville New Jasper Road in Ceasercreek Township has been torn down. It will be left vacant to allow grass to grow over it, a process called greening.
Properties on Factory Road in Beavercreek and Route 68 South and Eleazer Road in Ceasercreek Township will also be left to green once they’re demolished.
A property on Kauffman Avenue in Fairborn will be used for commercial expansion. Finally, a property at 176 Xenia Towne Square in Xenia will be a part of the Xenia Towne Square redevelopment project.
“It’s all been fairly easy and, you know, it’s great to just see something knocked down and then that fresh, new land and the availability for developments or just having open green space,” Tidd said.
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 properties here.
