Demolition bids for the Horace Mann building came in at a total cost of $375,980, under the projected $596,000 budget estimate.

"The city had the property for 12 years, and got nine years of use from the property and the building has also provided a value to the community and its citizens as long as we were able to maintain it," City Manager Ron Neibert said. "We were fortunate the bids came in some $200,000 under the budgeted projection."

There were seven bidders for the demolition potion of the project, and six bidders for the asbestos abatement portion. One demolition bid, from Dora & Associates, was disqualified due to lack of required documentation and certification as required in the bid specifications. The low bid on asbestos abatement was awarded to Talbert ICS in the amount of $205,000; the demolition bid was awarded to Green Trac, at a cost of $170,980.

According to Neibert, the project was bid in two components in order to get lower bids.

"To do the asbestos portion of the demolition, a contractor must be certified in the State of Illinois under the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency guidelines," Neibert explained. "If we had bid the project as one component, we wouldn't have gotten as competitive bids, as we would have been limiting the bidding to those companies which could do both the asbestos and the demolition."

Bids include taking the property, located on Perkins Avenue, back to a green space and seeded. In addition, some structural elements will be removed during demolition for the Jefferson County Historical Society as well as Mt. Vernon City Schools District 80.

"There is going to be a group of former students and teachers that will have a get-together before demolition to share their memories," Mayor Mary Jane Chesley reported. "There will be bricks from the building available in a secure area of the property, and they will be able to take a brick to remember the school. ... There are good memories of that school and it has served us well. A lot of fine people went through those halls."

The building will be taken down completely and the lot will be a green space once demolition is completed.

"We have talked about the issue of community input on what takes place to the property after it has been seeded and made a green space, such as what could be put up to replace it and what may go there," City Councilman Ron Lash reminded the council.

In other business, the council:

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Demolition bids approved by council

FITCHBURG -- The oft-vandalized former Central Steam Plant is one step closer to demolition thanks to the city being awarded a $500,000 brownfields remediation grant from MassDevelopment.

According to Mayor Lisa Wong, the grant funds will be used for asbestos abatement at the plant and demolition of the building. The city applied for the grant last spring and received confirmation of the award last week, she said.

"The Central Steam Plant is one of the last major sites in the city that was abandoned and left for the community to cleanup," Wong said Saturday. "The state has been wonderful in providing the funds necessary for Fitchburg to turn an eyesore into a community space for nature lovers. With significant transportation projects underway in West Fitchburg, this is a great way to spruce up an area where we anticipate future growth and investment."

Wong expects the project to cost about $500,000, but the final amount won't be known until bids come in. If they come in a great deal higher than that, the city may opt to do only a partial demolition or supplement the project with Community Development Block Grant funds set aside for demolition purposes, she said.

The Central Steam Plant, built in 1928, used to supply steam and electricity to power the mills along the Nashua River in West Fitchburg. It was last used in the 1980s, when it was damaged by a fire, Wong said. The city took control of the plant in 2004 and built the Steamline Trail in 2006,

The Central Steam Plant has been the target of repeated vandalism over the years, due to the presence of brass and copper items that thieves sell for scrap metal. Much of the machinery in the building still contains oil, and June break-in caused a large amount of that oil to leak into the Nashua River.

Over the next few weeks, the city will sign the agreement with the state and then develop a bid package, Wong said. She expects it will take several months to bid the project and said a contractor should be secured by early summer.

The project will start with asbestos abatement. That portion alone may take up to two to three months, she said, due to the layout of the building and a series of catwalks that may or may not be safe for workers to stand on.

Follow Alana Melanson at facebook.com/alanasentinel or on Twitter @alanamelanson.

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Grant will pay for demolition of Fitchburg plant

MT. VERNON The city council will hear bid results for the demolition of Horace Mann School during its meeting tonight.

The council approved seeking bids for the demolition of the former grade school in February. Bid specifications include the abatement of friable asbestos and black mold.

The school was deeded to the city for $1 in 2002 after the consolidation of District 80 schools into the Primary Center, J.L. Buford Intermediate Center and Casey Middle School.

The facility, under the ownership of the city, was used as a community center, with several fundraisers held under its roof and as a meeting place for the Heartland Young Marines. In addition, the building was used as a storage facility for the city.

In 2009, the city had to close the facility to the public after finding black mold. An environmental report released last year indicated the building not only has black mold, but friable asbestos, which is asbestos that is more easily released into the air and requires specific abatement procedures during demolition under Illinois Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Once plans for the building demolition were finalized, city officials and officials from Mt. Vernon City Schools District 80 toured the facility so any momentos could be salvaged prior to demolition.

In other business, the council will:

Hear bid results for the demolition of five residential homes;

Hold a second reading on an ordinance to revise the liquor ordinances to allow for alcoholic liquor sales under the winery license;

Hold a second reading on the transfer of surplus property;

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Council to discuss demolition bids

CINCINNATI (AP) - Demolition has begun on the historic Cincinnati home of the inventor of Ivory soap after a 4-year battle to save it.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (http://cin.ci/10opdTg ) that the demolition of the Gamble house in Cincinnati began Monday morning.

James N. Gamble, the son of 1 the founders of Procter & Gamble, lived in the 13-room Victorian mansion from 1875 until his 1932 death. He invented Ivory soap and turned his father's company into an international powerhouse during that time.

Preservationists and neighbors fought the demolition since 2009 through lawsuits, protests and other means.

The home's owner, the Greenacres Foundation, applied for a permit to demolish the house. The foundation had said the house was beyond repair.

The company handling the demolition expected the entire mansion to be pulled down Monday.

Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Demolition begins on historic Cincinnati home

New Reality TV Series Kings of Crash features demolition derby competitions and a look at the lives of Ryan and Katy Sweat, parents of 5 who share a dangerous hobby with their family.

Heber, UT (PRWEB) March 30, 2013

The Utah based husband and wife team balance the priorities of an active family, working full time jobs, and running their 40 acre family ranch with a tremendously exciting and dangerous hobby and passion, demolition derby. Now the nation has tuned in to watch weekly episodes with the objective of smash or be smashed and feature Sweat family clips with their home and kids along with derby night drama.

Katy and Ryan Sweats TV fame started last year when they were approached by a production company that wanted to make a reality series about the demolition derby and its drivers. The Sweats drive in six demolition derby shows during the summer and work all year around their full time jobs and their childrens busy schedules to prepare. They agreed to let a camera a crew follow them through the competitive derby season so more people could enjoy the sport.

Demolition Derby is dangerous but not nearly as dangerous as it may seem. The Derby cars are built with the drivers safety in mind and the Derby rules also focus on safe competition, said Ryan Sweat. The film crew followed us through Derby season to show how and why we do what we do. Demolition Derby is our passion and is also a way of life for my wife and our kids.

Demolition Derby cars are expensive to build. They are stripped of fixtures, lights and glass and numbered. Drivers wearing at least a seat belt and a helmet race in heats that require them to hit another car every two minutes. The last running car that makes contact with another driver wins. As a team, Ryan and Katy Sweat drive for prize money that hardly covers the cost of repairing their demolition cars from event to event as they travel to county fairs and competitions in Utah each summer. Ryan and his wife, Utah natives, have been competing for 22 years.

Ryan Sweat who has had a knack for working on cars since he was a kid is also known for his aggressive driving style which has destroyed most of the cars he has built.

Preparing for the summers derby season is an expensive and takes all year, said Ryan Sweat, well known driver of car #57. We build the cars in our garage over the year and then in one wild crazy race the hard work could be smashed to bits and then we are back to rebuilding and finding parts for the next heat.

Katy says having the cameras following her family around their home and at the derbies took some getting used to but at the end of the season she hardly noticed them. She says between the kids and their school and sports and each of their jobs they just did what they normally did and got accustomed to being followed by a film crew while their family pursued their hobby.

My focus is my family and as a family we love to demolition derby. Thats what we do! said Katy Sweat. People ask me why we do something so dangerous when we have 5 kids, and I say that it really inspires us to see our kids cheering for us. We work together to build the cars and then we cheer each other on to destroy them! Plus hitting cars hard is a great stress relief I am a less grumpy mom after I rage in competition. Demolition derby is a dangerous hobby yet it makes us a stronger family!

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Demolition Derby Drivers and Parents of 5, Ryan and Katy Sweat are Fearless in New Reality TV Series

WESTWOOD, OH (FOX19) -

A four-year battle to save the historic Gamble House is almost over with demolition expected in just a few days.

The house, built in the 1830's, was the home of James Gamble for nearly six decades. Gamble was the inventor of Ivory Soap.

Since 2009, preservationists have been trying to save the Gamble House.

The house stands as a legacy to Gamble' devotion to community and philanthropy. Gamble lived a life of service and donated large sums of money to build Cincinnati's Christ Hospital and Nippert Stadium.

"I hate to see anything of the past, you know, go away because this is something that's irreplaceable," explained Westwood resident Rick Kesterman. "Once it's gone, it's gone and you need to have some of the past to know where you've been."

President of the Westwood Historical Society, Liz Kissel, says demolition of the Gamble House will be a needless loss.

"This is a clearly historic building for our community in particular because part of that building goes back to the 1840's," said Kissel. "[It's] very sad that people had it in their ability to help us save this and they chose not to."

Kissel says that preservationists offered to buy or renovate the Gamble House but were turned down by the Greenacres Foundation which owns the property.

FOX19 attempted to reach out to the Greenacres Foundation to get their side of the story but they have not responded.

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Demolition of historic Westwood house nears

Beginning Monday, April 1, crews will mobilize equipment in the filled lakebed area of the Ashland waterfront between the Ashland Marina and Kreher Park to prepare for the demolition of the Citys former wastewater treatment plant.

Following a plan approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, crews will install security fencing around the building and begin demolition, which may take 2-3 weeks.

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Demolition to begin on abandoned wastewater building

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By Claudia Garcia/cgarcia@aliceechonews.com

Camacho Demolition is currently clearing out the buildings of the old Dubose campus.

By Claudia Garcia/cgarcia@aliceechonews.com

The demolition for Dubose is expected to begin at the beginning of the week.

Posted: Friday, March 29, 2013 2:32 pm | Updated: 5:23 pm, Fri Mar 29, 2013.

Old Dubose demolition to start soon By Claudia Garcia cgarcia@aliceechonews.com Alice Echo-News Journal

The demolition of the old Dubose Intermediate campus is underway.

Workers from Camacho Demolition are working on clearing construction debris such as hauling rubble, cinder blocks, insulation and ceiling tiles to the landfill. Project manager Ray Brown said he has a meeting with the company on Monday to discuss the actual demolition and the precautions they need to take such as dust and traffic control.

Brown said the actual demolition will take about three weeks to complete and will begin at the beginning of the week. Once the old campus has been demolished, Teal Company will begin paving the area and turning it into a parking lot and bus drop off area for the new campus. Teal is the same company that was in charge of the New Dubose project.

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Old Dubose demolition to start soon

CLIFTON A building on the Nutley side of the Roche campus it shares with Clifton has been draped in green tarp and tagged for demolition, but those in the region will not have to worry about a massive implosion because the building is coming down one piece at a time.

STAFF PHOTO/DALE MINCEY

Roche has wrapped one of its buildings in green tarp as part of the demolition process. The building will be taken down piece by piece and the tarp is a way of keeping dust and other health hazards contained to the property as it comes down.

Roche announced in July 2012 that the company would be vacating its 127-acre Kingsland Avenue property by the end of 2015 and, while various operations have phased out between then and now, Roche spokesperson Darien Wilson said this is the first big step in moving onward.

"[The building] housed corporate functions years ago," said Wilson. "Now it's old and in disrepair. We mostly consolidated those functions a while ago into the main high-rise with the logo on it. The demolition of this building has been scheduled for some time."

The green tarp and the word 'demolition' raised red flags from people in the area who thought the building might create a ruckus by being imploded, but Wilson explained the demolition process will actually occur over time as structural pieces are taken down piece by piece.

The primary reason for having to drape the building in green tarp is for environmental concerns, Wilson said, explaining it is a way of keeping dust and other health hazards contained to the property as it comes down.

Wilson said that after the building comes down, Roche officials have been discussing the idea of putting a park where the structure once stood so as not to have an empty void on the property.

Because of its condition, this is the only building on the property currently scheduled for demolition, said Wilson, adding Roche is taking extra care of the other, newer buildings in case the new property owner wishes to use them.

"Right now this year," said Wilson when asked what the next move is for Roche, "we're transitioning many functions to other areas of the globe. All that should be done by the end of the year, along with doing environmental remediation on the site. We have also been looking for a site planner to work with Roche and with Nutley and Clifton."

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Roche prepares for demolition of building

Albany

In what may be the final act of a grass-roots effort to save St. Patrick's Church in Watervliet, acting State Supreme Court Justice Kimberly A. O'Connor Thursday denied a preliminary injunction to stop demolition of the 124-year-old structure.

Two weeks ago O'Connor heard oral arguments in Albany between lawyers for Citizens for St. Patrick's and Nigro Cos. on whether demolition work already begun at the 3.5 acre site should be halted while preservationists try to get the plans reviewed by the Watervliet Zoning Board of Appeals.

Citizens for St. Patrick's was attempting to halt the razing of the church by Nigro Cos. to clear the 19th Street site for construction of a 40,200-square-foot Price Chopper Supermarket and two smaller commercial buildings.

The group was contesting the City Council's rezoning of the property to allow the project as well as the demolition permits.

In Thursday's ruling, O'Connor noted that the citizens group did not act in a timely manner with their litigation regarding the City Council's rezoning.

"During this time period (Price Chopper) has expended substantial sums of money on asbestos abatement and demolition activities," O'Connor's ruling said.

The justice also noted the citizens delayed commencing legal action another 25 days following their securing of copies of the demolition permits through the state Freedom of Information Law.

Rosemary Nichols, attorney for the grass-roots group, had argued the organization has standing, their court action was timely and that the city ZBA must review Building Inspector Mark Gilchrist's issuance of the permits.

Nichols did not immediately return calls for comment Thursday on whether the group will seek to appeal to a higher court.

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Demolition of St. Patrick's to continue