Rep. McNally Announces $1M for Mahoning, Columbiana County Land Demolition Projects

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Lauren McNally (D-Youngstown) today announced $1M for the Department of Development funding for the demolition of 30 Mahoning County and 39 Columbiana County sites as part of the latest round of awards from the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program.

“I’m grateful for the attention that our community is receiving from the latest round of demolition awards,” said Rep. McNally. “Not only does this ensure that our neighborhood is free of hazardous substances, it allows us to create economic opportunities that will continue to make our district thrive.”

Both Mahoning and Columbiana County were each awarded $500K. The full list of sites in each county can be found here.

The Brownfield Remediation Program provides grants for the cleanup of brownfield sites, to assist in the remediation of hazardous substances or petroleum at an industrial, commercial, or institutional property while the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program is designed to provide grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not Brownfields. Brownfields are defined as an abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial, commercial, or institutional property where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by known or potential releases of hazardous substances or petroleum. Commercial properties include buildings that were used for retail, office, manufacturing, industrial, industrial warehousing, institutional, or other non-residential or mixed-use (meaning any mix of these uses or a mix of residential and commercial uses) purposes. Structures that are affixed to the land and used for either commercial or residential uses can participate.

Today’s announcement represents the seventh round of funding for the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, awarding $33.2M to demolish 1,091 vacant, dilapidated buildings in 65 counties. $500K was set-aside for all of Ohio’s 88 counties. The program’s remaining funds were awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The program was developed, in part, by the Ohio General Assembly to create room for new economic opportunities in areas that currently cannot be developed due to contamination or the presence of vacant, dilapidated structures.