O’Rourke Wrecking poised to demo 2 shopping malls

O’Rourke Wrecking Co. reportedly is in the process of preparing to dismantle two vacant shopping malls in its southern Ohio home market region.

The Cincinnati-based demolition company has been awarded contracts to demolish both the Tri-County Mall in Springdale, Ohio, and the Forest Fair Village mall in Forest Park, Ohio, according to a report from WCPO-TV of Cincinnati.

O’Rourke has been awarded a $4.5 million contract to demolish the Tri-County Mall, according to the report. An employee of a firm intending to redevelop the property tells WCPO the demolition process could start by the end of September.

The same report indicates O’Rourke will receive $7.9 million for its work on the Forest Fair Village site, which is being redeveloped by a separate investment group into a distribution center.

Should demolition at the sites proceed, the two Ohio malls will join numerous others this decade that have met their demise in large part because of changing shopping habits in the United States.

On its website, O’Rourke Wrecking has posted an extensive list of completed projects that includes industrial, commercial, sports venue and institutional demolition work, such as the 500,000-square-foot Swifton Commons Mall in Bond, Ohio, near Cincinnati.

Several years ago, O’Rourke demolished a former playing card factory in the Cincinnati area in a project the firm said resulted in a 90 percent materials recycling rate.

The now-demolished Swifton Mall was built in 1956, while the Tri-County Mall opened in 1960, and the Forest Fair Village Mall was not opened until 1988.