MANSFIELD — Gov. Mike DeWine is scheduled to visit Mansfield on Tuesday morning to announce a $4 million grant to help with the demolition and cleanup of the former Westinghouse “A” building on the east side.
The funds will come from the $500 million set aside in the state’s biennial budget for demolition and brownfield remediation.
The Richland County Land Bank applied for $7.7 million in December, including the “A” building. The decaying, six-story eyesore has largely sat idle at 200 E. Fifth St. since the manufacturer closed local operations in 1990.
Each of the state’s 88 counties, as part of the two-year state budget approved this year, are guaranteed $500,000 in demolition funds and $1 million in brownfield remediation dollars.
That leaves $368 million that local governments can apply for on a first-come, first-served basis, though those entities will have to come up with a 25-percent match for any projects after the guaranteed funds are spent.
DeWine is scheduled to speak at the Westinghouse property Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. to announce the first round of Ohio Department of Development funding.
The quick approval for Westinghouse was not readily forthcoming last week, according to local officials.
Early in the week, local officials were informed another project in Madison Township, a $50,000 remediation of a small property near the fire station, had been approved — but there was no mention of Westinghouse.
Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero said local officials were pleased to hear the smaller project was initially approved, but were concerned the OK for the larger effort was not yet forthcoming.
Vero helped launch the effort in August 2021 to demolish the “A” building, an effort that includes the adjoining 13-acre “concrete” jungle.
Under the current state guidelines associated with the grant funds, all of the work approved must be complete by the end of June 2023.
“I think it’s fair to say we believed the Westinghouse project would eventually be approved. But our concern was that unless the (timeline) guidelines change, if it’s not approved until the fall, we were concerned we couldn’t get it down and cleaned up in time,” Vero said.
Local officials, including Vero, reached out to state Rep. Marilyn John, state Sen. Mark Romanchuk and ODD expressing concerns.
Vero said local officials tried to make it clear there was another project of greater importance to the county and community and “time was of the essence” due to the scope of the project.
“I think the governor and his staff had conversations with ODD on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and ODD did take a little leap of faith with us to say, ‘OK, it’s approved.’
“I do think if not for the intervention of the governor, it wouldn’t have got approved as quickly. And so he deserves credit.
“If we’ve been critical of (DeWine) in the past, then we have to be complimentary when he comes through and provides something that is a really big deal for Richland County,” he said.
“The governor came through with an additional $3 million beyond the $1 million guaranteed,” Vero said.
In terms of the needed local match for the $5 million project, county commissioners have pledged up to $1 million for the project and Mansfield City Council approved another $500,000.
Vero said Land Bank officials estimated it will take up to a year to complete the “A” building project.
