MANSFIELD — Mansfield City Council on Tuesday is expected to pass the final hurdle to preserve a part of local Westinghouse history.
Council is scheduled to vote on a memorandum of understanding with other local groups regarding the “planning, design, funding and construction” of a historic preservation memorial for the former Westinghouse “A” building.
The agreement is among the city, the Richland County Land Bank, Richland County Historical Society, Mansfield’s Historic Preservation Commission, Downtown Mansfield Inc. and the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office.
The building at 200 Fifth Ave. is scheduled to be demolished and cleaned up, starting this fall, through an effort led by the Land Bank. Assuming council approves the MOU, the agreement will go to the state for final review and approval.
City Council on Aug. 3 approved spending $40,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help pay for the $125,000 project.
Richland County commissioners on July 14 approved funds to cover the entire effort, minus any funds the City of Mansfield would approve and other donations toward the project.
As part of the pact, the organizations agree to cooperate on the construction of a monument “displaying one or more aspects about the Westinghouse Building A and its significance to the area.”
The plan is to preserve an original, mammoth brick and stone Westinghouse doorway before the building is demolished. It will then be reassembled as “close to location of original door as possible, based on good engineering practices and code requirements of the City of Mansfield,” according to the MOU.
The agreement also calls for the preservation of “original decorative elements as is feasible,” as well as the original brick. It also calls for a plaque featuring the historic connection to Westinghouse and the women’s labor movement.
“(Westinghouse) is a big part of the community,” Jennifer Kime, Downtown Mansfield Inc. CEO and local history lover, told county commissioners in July. “We have a lot of industrial properties in town that are all really important.
“Westinghouse undoubtedly was really a cornerstone of our community for a long time. And like many of us in this room, we have connections to it. The community feels a deep connection to Westinghouse and we lost so much of Westinghouse already,” said Kime, whose grandfather once worked at the manufacturing site.
“This is almost like one of our last chances to really do something really generational for people to reflect on Westinghouse and its meaning to the community.”
The six-story “A” building, along within adjoining 13-acre concrete slab, has largely sit idle since Westinghouse ceased local operations at the end of 1990, a massive factory that once employed more than 8,000 local residents.
Westinghouse Preservation Proposal
A $4 million project, including $3 million from the state, has been approved to demolish and remediate the site, now owned by the Richland County Land Bank.
The Land Bank in August awarded the demolition and remediation contract to R&D Excavating of Crestline.
Kime told commissioners the Westinghouse is eligible under identified criteria for the National Register of Historic Places, which provides certain legal rights for local residents in the face of demolition.
The “A” building was constructed in 1919-1920 and was a cornerstone of the community for seven decades, building a variety of Westinghouse products.
One of the essential elements of the Westinghouse history locally was the significant number of women who worked there. One such group Kime said was called the “Westinghouse Girls,” who produced a product called Cozy Glow.
Also on Tuesday, City Council will examine the following proposals:
