Demolition begins for Goodwill project

Demolition began Monday of the former Benhams Restaurant & Catering building, the first of seven former commercial buildings that will be torn down over the next two to three months as the initial phase of an $11 million project to build a Goodwill Easter Seals Community Service Center just south of downtown Dayton.

The 80,000-square-foot facility will house the 125 employees who currently work at Goodwills Kuntz Road headquarters off Stanley Avenue. Agency officials anticipate creating 50 more jobs during the next five years at the new center. When it opens in late 2014 or early 2015, the human-services center will allow Goodwill Easter Seals of the Miami Valley to expand its services to the developmentally disabled, elderly and unemployed.

The former Benhams at 209 Warren St. was the first building to fall to the wrecking claw. The other six structures, all in the 600 and 700 blocks of South Main Street, will follow after asbestos removal and other environmental remediation is complete, according to Goodwill Easter Seals spokeswoman Kim Bramlage.

The demolition phase is expected to take about 75 days. Wed like to be finished before the weather gets bad, Bramlage said. The next step of the project will be the hiring of an architectural firm, which will occur sometime after the bidding deadline of Nov. 1.

Among the spectators as demolition began Monday morning was Bill Howser, who along with his wife Becky owned and operated Benhams for decades prior to its closing in March 2012.

No remorse, no sadness, but its definitely the end of an era, Howser said.

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Demolition begins for Goodwill project