Indiana factory demo awarded to low bidder

Chicago-based Green Demolition Contractors Inc. has emerged as the winning bidder to take down a former factory building in Warsaw, Indiana, according to a local media report.

An early June report by the Warsaw Times-Union indicates Green Demolition was one of seven firms that bid on the job to take down a building where British sports cars used to be assembled for the American market.

According to IndianaLandmarks.org, the building in Warsaw was constructed by a Chicago-based industrialist who won a contract to produce marine engines for the World War II production effort.

After the war, Stanley H. Arnolt turned to his “passion for Italian-bodied British sports cars” to turn the building into a hub for building “Arnolt-badged Aston Martins, Bentleys, Bristols, and, most famously, MGs,” according to IndianaLandmarks.org. The website says the Arnolt-MG effort helped that British carmaker stave off bankruptcy for many years.

Also according to IndianaLandmarks.org, the Arnolt building has been empty throughout this century, with the city of Warsaw taking possession in 2019.

According to the Times-Union, other bidders on the project included demolition firms based in Indiana, Michigan, New York and Ohio.

Several additional steps need to be taken before Green Demolition will start any work, including further resolution on environmental issues involving oil residues potentially found at the site.

Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director Jeremy Skinner is quoted by the newspaper as saying once further soil and concrete sampling is undertaken, Green Demolition can “can go in and demo the building down to the foundation [and] remove that concrete.”

Skinner and other officials quoted by the Times-Union say they were pleased to receive several bids, most of which came in at a price within the Warsaw budget. The Green Demolition bid came in at $178,800.

The city of Warsaw’s plans for the Arnolt land parcel involve building “affordable family housing,” according to Skinner, on a timeframe that entails starting construction on the redevelopment effort “yet this year.”