DEMOLITION Old junior high to come down in Oct.

The demolition should take about four weeks from start to finish.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- An 89-year-old structure nestled in the city's downtown will be demolished starting in early October.
The former Edison Junior High School will be razed by Rudzik Excavating Inc. of Struthers.
Niles Schools Superintendent Rocco D. Adduci said school officials are working with city leaders to ensure all permits and work orders are in place before the Church Street building is torn down.
"We also have to make sure everything is OK'd with the state as far as the asbestos removal," he added.
Adduci said the local company could begin tearing down the building as soon as the first week of October and take about four weeks for completion.
The new start date comes more than a year after school leaders agreed to demolish the structure. Original demolition bids opened in 2003 were thrown out after the state ordered local school officials to have asbestos in the building removed before it was demolished.
Prisoners from Ohio Penal Industries spent months last winter removing the asbestos. The work was completed this spring, and the demolition contract was rebid.
What happened
In July, the Niles board of education received bids from eight companies interested in performing the work, and in August the contract was awarded to All Excavating Co. of Youngstown, which bid $77,277.
Last month, company officials bowed out of the project, citing personal reasons not related to the project, and board members opted for the next-lowest bidder, Rudzik. That company's bid was $115,000.
The demolition costs are covered by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
The foundation for Edison was laid in 1914, and the building opened as the city's high school in 1917. School officials agreed to close the building, which was being used as a junior high, and tear it down after the new Niles middle school was built and opened on Brown Street.
slshaulis@vindy.com