MANSFIELD — The Richland County Land Bank board on Monday, citing a state grant deadline, selected a different contractor to demolish and clean up the former Ocie Hill Community Center.
The work will now by done by C&J Contractors, a Cleveland firm, for $542,500, which had been the second-lowest bid for the project at 445 Bowman St., largely funded by an Ohio Department of Development grant.
That grant, however, requires the work to be completed by mid May, part of the $500 million statewide for demolition and brownfield remediation set aside in the two-year state budget last year.
The Land Bank board on Jan. 4 had awarded the project to the lowest bidder, Raze International from Shadyside, Ohio, for $527,700.
But when Land Bank manager Amy Hamrick contacted the company in southeast Ohio in the next day, Raze International officials told her they could not begin work until May 1 due to other commitments.
“Everyone in the state is bidding the same stuff, trying to get it all done,” Hamrick said during a special board meeting Monday afternoon. “They had bid on three other projects and had already received two of them.
“(Raze) would love to continue to do this project, but they would not be able to start until May 1, which is when ODOD basically says these projects need to be done,” she said.
She spoke to representatives from C&J, who told her they are ready to go to work quickly.
“They actually have crews and equipment sitting there that are not being used right now,” Hamrick said. “They would have no problems in starting immediately.”
Hamrick said C&J Contractors are highly regarded in northeast Ohio. According to the company website, “C&J, founded in 1983, has expanded its capabilities, personnel, and equipment. We have completed interior demolition jobs from a $2,000 on-site demolition to the massive quarter-million dollar Cuyahoga County Port Authority Old Post Office Project.”
“Their references came back very good. I spoke to the Cuyahoga County Land Bank. They put (C&J) in the top three of contractors they use. They love them and have never had an issue with them,” Hamrick said.
Hamrick said it’s the first time she can recall a project being awarded to a second contractor for a project.
“I think part of it is the really tight deadline,” she said.
The project, which requires a 25 percent local match on the total cost, will return the lot to grass and the Land Bank will determine its redevelopment future after that.
The demolition projects are being funded as part of the Ohio Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, developed to help local communities tear down dilapidated commercial and residential buildings and revitalize surrounding properties to attract investments, businesses, and jobs.
The century-old building on the property is named for Hill, the first Black resident to be elected to Mansfield City Council and the longest serving individual on council in the history of Mansfield, serving from 1961 to 1991.
Throughout the years, the structure has been known as the Creveling School, the Mansfield Opportunities Industrial Center, the Human Resource Bureau and the Neighborhood Youth Corps.
The city purchased the building in 1988 and it was home to more than a dozen non-profit and government agencies. It also had a gymnasium used by children and hosted after school-programs like the Culliver Reading Center.
The city closed the building in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and it never reopened.
At the time, Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker was not optimistic the building could be saved, saying estimates to replace the boiler, windows, doors and other required work could cost several million dollars.
