Greene County to demolish former Ramada Hotel in heart of Xenia
Greene County plans to use state funds to demolish the former Ramada Hotel in the heart of Xenia, at the southwest edge of the Towne Square property that is scheduled for redevelopment.
Commissioners awarded the project Thursday to Lebanon-based Precision Site Development, which will demolish the building for $167,000.
The city of Xenia has owned the land that the Ramada and the adjacent Xenia Towne Square sit on since 1974, the year of the massive tornado, and has had long-term land lease agreements with developers that built there.
Xenia took possession of the Ramada last year, citing the hotel’s failure to renew their lease, years of delinquent lease payments, a history of fire code violations and property maintenance issues. Lawyers for the owners pushed back, but the hotel closure proceeded anyway.
Last year, the city made plans to incorporate the Ramada site into plans for the adjacent Xenia Market District. The building is at 300 Xenia Towne Square, at the corner of West Main and Church streets.
The demolition is funded through Ohio’s Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, which provides grants for the demolition of commercial and residential buildings and revitalization of surrounding properties on sites that are not brownfields. This program provides $150 million with $500,000 set-aside per county, and the rest being first-come, first-serve.
Commissioners also authorized the demolition of an old church in Bowersville under the same state program, and applied for grants to remediate the old Greeneview South Elementary School, and Greeneview North Elementary School, both in Jamestown.