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Tests will be done at former Wick Avenue dealerships
YOUNGSTOWN
The board of control approved hiring a firm to do asbestos and hazardous- material testing at two former Wick Avenue car-dealership properties to get an estimated cost on demolishing the buildings there.
HzW Environmental Consultants of Mentor will have a report on the sites in the next one to two months, Abigail Beniston, the city’s code- enforcement and blight- remediation specialist, said after Thursday’s board vote.
HzW will charge the city $5,820 to collect the samples. There also will be analytical fees based on the number of samples collected. That amount will not exceed $25,000, according to the proposal the board approved.
The properties are the former State Chevrolet, between Olive Street and Strausbaugh Avenue, and the former Barrett Cadillac, between Linden Avenue and Sycamore Street, Beniston said.
The two were among a group of new-car dealerships known as the Wick Six. As the area deteriorated, the dealerships left with the last one leaving in the early 1990s.
The city took ownership at no cost of the State and Barrett properties, leasing them to other businesses over the years, said Finance Director David Bozanich.
But the current condition of the buildings is poor.
“The company will do asbestos testing, check for underground tanks and any other environmental issues,” Beniston said. “After we get that information, we can do a bid for demolition.”
Most of the other Wick Six buildings have been demolished by private contractors, city officials said.