City to save $200,000 on plaza demolition; work to begin soon

West Carrollton WEST CARROLLTON — is expected to save about $200,000 on the demolition of Carrollton Plaza as the city seeks to transform the site into a multimillion-dollar entertainment district.

Green City Demolition’s total base bid of $662,450 was the lowest of six proposals to tear down three buildings — including the former longtime home of Roberds — on the 13.75-acre site just west of Interstate 75.

The project, expected to start about Nov. 1 and last five months, will be the most visible — if not the most significant — move West Carrollton has made to date in its plans for reinvigorating the Dixie Drive/Central Avenue corridor

along the Great Miami River.

The city projected the cost of the demolition to be between $825,000 to $850,000 and three bids were about $950,000 or higher, West Carrollton records show.

“So we’re pleased with the number,” West Carrollton Economic Development Director Michael Lucking said.

The demolition is partofa $3 million deal that included the city buying the largely vacant plaza on the south- west quadrant of I-75 exit 47 last year.

“It is a prominent property at the gateway to the com- munity,” Lucking said. “So we think that we’re going to create a better situation at that location.”

City leaders view the site as a future anchor for an entertainment district along the river corridor. They have made a handful of land deals in recent years in the area, leading to demolition of vacant buildings to make way for redevelopment.

City Council is scheduled Tuesday night to vote on the hiring of Green City and — if approved — the Cincin- nati company will have five months from its start date to complete its work, Lucking said.

Most of the concrete from the buildings “is going to be crumbled on site and left behind to be ... an acceptable base to construct upon,” he said.

It will be broken down, and some of it will be used to level the property, which slopes down on its southern portion, according to the city.

During demolition, the site will be fenced off for safety and security reasons. But because of the distancefrom the buildings to the street, Lucking said he doesn’t anticipate it will have much effect on the traffic along Dixie Drive.

“Certainly there’s going to be more truck traffic in the area. But ... it’s not apparent to me at this point that we’ll need to do anything in terms of traffic along Dixie Drive,” he said.

“It’s a pretty sprawling site, and the buildings aren’t close,” to the street, Lucking added. “Certainly, an aspect of the contract is that they’re going to have be very clean, minimize dust ... but any disruption of traffic should be minimal.”