Demolition project moves forward in northeast Ohio

Conneaut City Council in Ohio reportedly has voted to amend demolition fees to expedite the timeline to take down a former industrial building in that northeast Ohio city, which sits upon the coast of Lake Erie near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.

The vote to approve up to $20,000 in funding occurred last Tuesday. The building formerly housed General Electric manufacturing operations.

A listing on the Loopnet website indicates the one-story, 133,000-square-foot building at 880 Maple Avenue in Conneaut was built in 1941 and sits on 11.5 acres of land.

A report from the Star Beacon in Ashtabula, Ohio, refers to a necessity for bonds and general liability insurance pertaining to the demolition project in relation to environmental concerns after demolition at postindustrial sites.

The property appears on a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) list maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but that same listing says it is not on the Superfund national priorities list (NPL).

The facility, formerly known as the Conneaut Base Plant when it was operated by GE, produced light bulb and fixture bases and caps. The factory was retooled to continue producing variations of such components for several decades, closing in 2008.

According a report, GE has sought to negotiate the cost of a demolition permit for its former plant while city leaders in Conneaut have expressed concerned about possible environmental issues at the property.

There is no date for the building’s demolition yet, according to officials.