The Paulding County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) has acquired the former Bargain Bin building. The building is located at 118 West Perry Street between Hawg’s Tavern and the Paulding theatre building.
It has been nearly two years since the Land Bank purchased the Paulding Theatre. Since that purchase, there has been review by engineering teams that confirmed the building and framework was structurally unsound, leaving demolition as the only option. The piece that was never confirmed by the engineers, or by any of the bidding demolition teams upon review, was if the adjoining wall with the former Bargain Bin building was able to be separated, leaving it as a sole standing building, or if the wall would collapse upon demolition of the theatre framework.
“Without there being a solid confirmation of how the wall between the former Bargain Bin building and the theatre were connected, the Land Bank Committee felt it was best to purchase the building and have full ownership. This way, in the event that the wall couldn’t be separated, there would not be additional expense,” stated Paulding County Economic Development Director Tim Copsey. “The demolition team (Advanced Demolition of McComb, Ohio won this bid in 2023) confirmed a separation wall between the former Bargain Bin and Hawg’s Tavern building. They will start demolition at the north end of the old bargain bin and work toward and through the theatre, to the former Western Auto building and end demolition at the alley” Copsey shared.
The purchase of the bargain bin building has been the delay in getting the theatre and former Western Auto building demolition started. Once the wall dilemma was recognized last summer the discussion began immediately with building owner Trent Stoller. “Trent was on board from the start of the discussion but we first needed to find a place to live for those that were renting space upstairs,” Copsey shared. “Trent was able to acquire the former Western Buckeye ESC building but it then had to have interior work completed to transform it from an office space and make it residential space again. Once that work completed in January we were then able to purchase the Perry Street building and move this project forward again.”
The Land Bank EPA consultant Tetra Tech has sub-contracted with Erie Environmental of Port Clinton, Ohio, to come in and remediate any hazardous materials on the site of the three buildings. This may include: asbestos shingles, pipe wrap or floor tiles. They have been doing the work on site this week. Once this remediation work is complete, Advance Demolition will be on site the week of February 19 to begin the demolition work. This will include removal of some key pieces in the theatre for the Paulding County Historical Society, backfill on the site to make it level with the neighboring properties, and any work required on the newly exposed east facing wall of Hawg’s Tavern.
The future use of the site is yet to be determined. The property has been marketed during a few different inquiries but to this point no one has signed a purchase agreement. It will be a better discussion going forward as potential investors will be able to see the size of the open lot once it is a clean site. The addition of space from removing a third building will allow for a much larger opportunity for development.
“We realize demolition isn’t a crowd-pleasing decision for everyone. There is a part of our history here in these buildings, both in building the structures and in the years of use after. But once these buildings reach a point of no return we have to move forward and look for new opportunities that will better serve our children, grandchildren and future generations. The PCED office will work hard to market this property and see what can be the next “historic” opportunity here that we can all be proud of. We cannot express enough gratitude to the Noneman’s, Graham’s, and Stoller’s for their help with this. We hope to make them and Paulding County proud of this project,” Copsey closed.
Paulding County Treasurer and Land Bank Committee member Lou Ann Wannemacher noted, “The Land Bank is excited to follow this project up after the recent success with the Grover Hill Dollar General lot. We continue to look for opportunities that move the county bottom line forward.”
This project has been an incredible collaboration piece for the county. The Paulding County Land Bank Corporation, The Village of Paulding, Maumee Valley Planning Organization, Paulding County Economic Development, building owners Bill & Ruth Graham, Bob & Gretchen Noneman and Trent & Jodi Stoller, and the Historical Society have all been involved. Everyone worked closely to make sure that this process served the best interests of the Paulding County community.
