The Cuyahoga County, Ohio, board of control awarded $1.3 million in funding to West Creek Conservancy, Cleveland, to demolish 13 former dormitories in Parma, Ohio, a report by Cleveland.com says. The dorms at Parmdale have been vacant since 2014.
The Parmdale site once housed the Parmdale Orphanage. The report says since its vacancy, the buildings have damaged beyond repair and are a target for vandalism, break-ins and theft.
According to the report, the demolition will clear land for greenspace, public park development and watershed conservation, which was thought of by Derek Shafer, West Creek Conservancy executive director.
In 2016, the conservancy reached out to the previous owners of Parmdale, the Catholic Charities Diocese of Cleveland, and negotiated a $1.75 million sale. The Cleveland Metroparks contribute $250,000 toward the purchase, and the city of Parma agreed to take ownership.
The West Creek Conservancy is now responsible for reclaiming the site and leveraging funding to rededicate it as public park land.
Schafer says in the report that, once the project is complete, it will save more than 60 acres of forest, a half-mile of stream and eliminate more than 10 acres of impervious surfaces that added to flooding issues in the area, the report says.
The project will add more than 80 acres to the West Creek Reservation, Schafer says in the report, which will make the reservation more than 500 acres.
The cottages and dormitories will be demolished this year and in 2019. Future funding will be required to tear down the remaining administrative and office buildings.