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Youngstown gets single bid for vacant fire station
YOUNGSTOWN
The owner of J.W. Murdoch & Sons Inc. submitted the lone proposal to buy a vacant fire station on the South Side that’s has numerous problems.
David Murdoch, who owns the commercial and industrial door business on West Indianola Avenue, turned in a proposal by Friday’s deadline. He did so after touring the former Station No. 9 at East Midlothian Boulevard and Sheridan Road a few hours before submitting his offer.
“It’s exciting I’m the only one,” Murdoch said. If a deal is struck, the building “would retain the same look. Actually, it would be improved and restored. I see a lot of possibilities and don’t want it to just decay.”
The station has long-standing structural issues and problems with rodents, mold and water leaks. The fire department has wanted to leave the building for several years. The city closed the station about six months ago after spending about $900,000 for a new Station No. 9 at Ipes Field on East Midlothian Boulevard.
Though proposals for the station were due at 4 p.m. Friday, the city won’t open Murdoch’s until Monday.
The city’s board of control will evaluate the proposal before making a decision.
The city is interested in selling the station if the proposed use of it conforms to the surrounding environment and is a benefit to the community, Finance Director David Bozanich said.
“You don’t want a government asset to be given to the wrong user,” he said earlier Friday, before Murdoch turned in a proposal.
Murdoch declined to say what he intends to do with the empty 92-year-old fire station or how much money he offered for it.
But, he said, his offer “won’t have anything to do with the [door] business.”
Murdoch said he was surprised to be the only person to submit a proposal.
“I would have thought there’d be dozens of people interested,” he said.