Earlier this year, Dayton commissioners authorized the city to spend about $450,000 to purchase the property from Steve R. Rauch Inc.
Rauch, a demolition firm, was expected to be granted the deed to the land from its owners as part of a settlement over unpaid demolition costs. But that transfer has not yet happened.
The city wants to make the property “development ready” to speed up the time line for its return to productive use, said Aaron Sorrell, Dayton’s director of planning and community development.
“We felt like we needed to get this moving so we could get this site in better condition prior to winter,” he said. “It’s been languishing.”
Demolition activities will depend on the weather but could take about six weeks week to complete, he said.
This project will help the city avoid anymore delays to marketing the site to attract new developers and investment, he said.
Also, it will repair and rebuild the sidewalks on Ludlow and Fourth street so they can reopen for pedestrian use, officials said. The property has drawn interest from a handful of developers, whose initial concepts included housing and other uses.
Bladecutters will be tasked with repairing the foundation wall of the remaining 1908 historic newspaper building structure and backfilling, grading and seeding the rest of the property.
“A lot of debris was scraped out but the foundations haven’t been broken up — the old foundation walls need to be removed,” said Sorrell.
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