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Eyesore is razed
By Jeanne Starmack
CAMPBELL
Photo
Cosmo Iamurri, owner of Pro Quality Land Development in Campbell, tears down the Essence Lounge on U.S. Route 422. Iamurri did the razing in return for some city land near his business.
The empty lot on U.S. Route 422 in Campbell is a sight for sore eyes.
No more Essence Lounge. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was gone. Only a little cleanup work remained.
For years, the old nightclub sat empty on eight acres the city owned for back taxes. It burned in the early morning of May 15, 2009, and arson was suspected.
For nearly another year it sat, a half-burned, ugly shell in the busy Route 422 corridor.
The plan, former Campbell Mayor Jack Dill told The Vindicator last year, was to use federal Neighborhood Stabilization Funds to tear it down. The city wanted to clean up the property with the hopes it would attract a buyer, he said then.
Meanwhile, a Campbell business owner by the name of Cosmo Iamurri made a proposal. He wanted approximately five acres near his business, Pro Quality Land Development on Wilson Avenue, for business reasons.
He said he would do $12,000 worth of demolition work in exchange for the land, which encompasses 42 city lots.
NSF money could be used toward other work as Mahoning County, which administers the funds, solicited bids for work on 136 properties the city listed for demolition.
Iamurri said he received the deed for the city lots Tuesday. Demolition work on the Essence Lounge began.
Iamurri said his plans for the land near his business, which stretches from Madison to Jackson streets to Murray Avenue, include stockpiling. He said he might eventually buy a crusher to recycle his own demolition debris, which would include concrete and blacktop.
At the Essence Lounge site, he said, he also will regrade the property to alleviate flooding for neighbors.