DAYTON — The cleanup to pave the way for a $110 million housing project in downtown Dayton is underway.
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The historic Centre City building is a three-building complex at Fourth and Main Streets.
To bring it back to life is a huge project from top to bottom.
Asbestos and hazardous material cleanup is the first step before any redevelopment work can happen.
“We really want to get this project done as fast as we can but the reality of a 22-story building is, it could take some time,” Julie Harris, demolition program manager with the Montgomery County Land Bank said.
The Centre Bity Building has been lightly used for the last 20 years, and completely vacant for the last 10 years.
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“I think it’s going to be six months, maybe a bit longer to get everything taken care of,” Harris said.
The land bank has contractors doing surveys and assessments to see the scope of the work needed.
City inspectors are also on the site almost daily.
“There’s a lot of vacant buildings down there, we got to fill it in,” Tia Williams said.
Williams lives in Dayton and spends a lot of time downtown.
She said projects that bring buildings to life just add to a vibrant city.
She is excited the project includes 200 new apartments, 60 percent of them designated for affordable housing.
“I think that’s good because we need more homes for people to stay in and more newer homes,” Williams said.
The project is estimated at a total of $10 million.
Dayton City Commissioners recently approved $6 million earmarked for this clean-up process.
“There are so many partners involved with this project and it’s so exciting for the city to see it come back to life and save this important architecture for the downtown area,” Harris said.
The assessment process is almost complete then the land bank will ask for bids and pick a contractor for the clean-up.
We will continue to follow this story.
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