A multi-acre site in Ravenna is finally being cleaned up.
The property at 645 S. Chestnut St., which includes 13 parcels totaling more than three acres, was once the site of Crest Rubber Co., a historic manufacturing concern that ceased operations in the summer of 2015. The buildings deteriorated, and the site became an eyesore that presented what the Ohio EPA termed in a flyer as “serious safety concerns for the community.”
In December 2020, the Portage County Common Pleas Court agreed to a proposed demolition plan that involved removing more than 1,700 tons of construction and demolition debris from the property. Included in the plan is removing a 400-square foot area with a type of flooring material known to contain asbestos.
Cleanup is ongoing and is expected to last about two months. Footing the $1.1 million bill is the Ohio EPA, which has contracted with Liberty Tire Services of Ohio to remove the construction and demolition debris and with Daniel A. Terreri & Sons to handle the asbestos abatement.
Contractors will be removing about 7,100 tons of material to approved landfills, Ravenna Economic Development Director Dennis West said.
Prior to commencing the cleanup, the Ohio EPA put flyers on homes and businesses within 500 feet of the Chestnut Street site.
West said no one currently owns the site, which will eventually revert to the Portage County Land Bank, a nonprofit organization that facilitates the conversion of vacant, blighted, abandoned and tax delinquent properties to productive use for the community.
The Land Bank will foreclose on the property and issue a sheriff’s sale notice, West said. Should no one purchase the property after two attempts at a sheriff’s sale, the land will go to the state of Ohio, which could potentially offer it back to the city.
City Council President Rob Kairis said the city of Ravenna wants the southernmost parcel along a set of railroad tracks because it has a sanitary sewer line traversing it.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.