Badger Construction of West Virginia will soon be tearing down this vacant building on North Wooster Avenue in downtown Strasburg. (Tusco TV file photo)

Strasburg, Ohio (Tusco TV) - A downtown eyesore could be coming down by the end of May to make way for a new public green space. 

Village Solicitor Attorney Richard Fox says they’re now in the final planning stages for the demolition of the former Marburger building on North Wooster, with council recently accepting the $74,000 bid submitted by Badger Construction of West Virginia.  

"Our engineer, Don Dummermuth, has prepared and sent the demolition contract to Badger Construction for signature. Once that is signed and back to us, we will be having a pre-construction meeting, and then we will set a date for the demolition," he says.

Fox says before they could award the contract, they had to have another company come in to remove the asbestos from the building. He says this is a requirement for the Clean Ohio grant that’s covering 75 percent of the project. 

"We were required when we applied for the grant to prepare and present an assessment of the asbestos, which we had H&H Environmental do. They had done the assessment, found some asbestos, and so we contracted with them once we got the grant and were good to go," he says. 

Fox says the demolition will be tricky because of the building’s proximity to the town’s post office, but he says their engineer is confident that the contractor will be up to the task. 

"The contractor is well aware of what his responsibility is in connection with the Post Office building especially because of the adjacent walls. I will indicate that when I was speaking with Don Dummermuth, he is familiar with Badger Construction. In fact, they have done some very delicate projects for the city of Dover in the past," he says.

Fox says under the terms of the grant, the property will have to be converted into a permanent green space once the structure comes down and cannot be used for any other purpose. 

TUSCO TV