Boardman eyesore to be demolished

Boardman eyesore to be demolished

YOUNGSTOWN

A Boardman motel, which has been boarded up for nearly 10 years and decried by neighbors as a trouble spot and an eyesore, is finally going to be demolished.

On Friday, the Mahoning County commissioners awarded the $24,800 demolition contract to ProQuality Land Development Inc. of Campbell.

The 6,458-square-foot Market Street motel was built in 1957 and boarded up in November 2003 after it was declared a public nuisance.

Police and firefighters were summoned there 45 times in the first 10 months of 2003 for complaints ranging from theft to robbery to drug abuse.

In September 2003, police raided the motel and arrested six people on several charges, including drug trafficking.

Anna DeAscentis, a budget specialist in the commissioner’s office, said the demolition is being funded by federal Community Development Block Grant funds and that the site may become a mini-park after the motel is razed. “We look forward to getting that torn down before summer,” she said.

“This will be an enhancement to that main corridor,” Carol Rimedio-Righetti, chairwoman of the commissioners, said of the demolition.