(The Center Square) – Ohio plans to send $60 million in taxpayer funds to 27 counties to clean up dilapidated buildings or vacant lots.
The money is part of the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program, which has given out more than $700 million to 86 of the state’s 88 counties since it began in 2021.
The recent announcement deals with 51 hazardous brownfield sites around the state, handing out $57.5 million for 43 cleanup and remediation projects and another $1.7 million for eight assessments.
“Over the years, we’ve helped transform hundreds of unsafe, blighted, and abandoned sites into new centers of opportunity across Ohio,” Gov. Mike DeWine said. “Through this program, we’re building stronger, safer neighborhoods and turning yesterday’s liabilities into tomorrow’s assets.”
A large chunk of the money is headed to Cuyahoga County for eight projects, including nearly $2.5 million to clean up and demolish the former University Hospitals Bedford Hospital, which was built in 1928 and has been vacant for the past three years.
Once the site is cleared, it will be marketed for redevelopment.
Also, another $2.5 million is earmarked to remediate soil and groundwater contamination from a long-vacant industrial site that was used for chemical, varnish and screw manufacturing in Cleveland.
A third Cleveland project will cost another $2.5 million and help with the redevelopment of the historic Rose and Sloan Building downtown. Plans are to transform the buildings into a mixed-use development with 154 residential units, a boutique hotel and retail, office and restaurant space.
“When we clear away what’s been holding our communities back, we make room for what’s possible,” Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik said. “I’ve seen families move into apartments where old factories once stood. I’ve seen vacant buildings transformed into thriving homes for small businesses. And I’ve walked through neighborhoods filled with hope because someone believed in what they could be. That’s the power of this program – it turns potential into progress.”
