County agrees to seek bids for demolition

By ROSE SCHNEIDER

Staff Writer

The Hancock County commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to begin seeking bids for the demolition of several dilapidated buildings along Findlay's North Main Street.

"This is another great step in moving this process forward," Commissioner Phillip Riegle said.

The swift vote comes just a week after the commissioners approved an agreement with the Ohio Historical Preservation Office that allows demolition of the flood-prone buildings, located just north of the Blanchard River at 115, 117, 119, 120, 121, 123, 125 and 131 N. Main St.

Thursday's vote to begin advertising for demolition bids was met with sighs of relief from the commissioners.

"That's good news," Riegle said after the vote was taken.

The process to demolish the buildings has been a long one, beginning after the August 2007 flood.

The buildings were bought by the Northwest Ohio Flood Mitigation Partnership after the 2007 flood. The partnership had intended to quickly demolish them; however, the buildings are located within Findlay's downtown historic district and the state preservation office would not allow it, Steven Wilson, project manager for the county engineer's office, has said.

The main concern, Wilson has said, was that historic artifacts could become buried beneath a permanent structure such as a levee or flood wall. However after it became apparent that levees and flood walls would not be part of flood-control efforts in Findlay, the preservation office agreed to the demolition, under certain terms.

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County agrees to seek bids for demolition