FLUSHING – The school buildings where generations of village residents were educated are disappearing from the landscape.

Edge Co. Inc. began the demolition work on Friday. The company had submitted the winning bid for the job at $138,100.

The Belmont County Land Reutilization Corp., also known as the land bank, worked with village leaders to arrange for the dilapidated structures to be raised. Situated on a hilltop in the center of the community, the schools and accompanying gymnasium all were built during the first three decades of the 20th century.

The site served both as Flushing High School and later as Flushing Elementary School as part of the Union Local School District. The school closed in 1998 when a new Union Local Elementary School opened, and the district sold the buildings to the village for $1. In the 20 years since they closed, the buildings had deteriorated badly, making them unsafe.

That prompted village officials to consider the site for another type of development. A new Dollar General store recently opened on the lower portion of the property where the playground was once located.

Now the upper portion of the property is being cleared.

In March, land bank Chairwoman Kathy Kelich reported that asbestos removal at the former Flushing school buildings has been completed at a cost of $780. She also said a property owner volunteered the use of land along Ohio 149 for non-asbestos fill, which will save the organization money in

transportation costs.

“We have a dump-site for clean debris, which is all mortar and brick and block,” she said.

Mayor Angelo Vincenzo previously said the school buildings have been a concern for the community for a long time.

“The main concern was safety,” he said. “You can post signs all day long, but you’re going to have kids, people going in and trying to get memorabilia.

“It’s really bad. The floors are falling in.”

Evidence that people continued to enter the buildings could be seen as the structures were being razed Friday.

Mindy Wilson of the Flushing Business Association snapped a photo of a blackboard inside one of the old school buildings and captured old text written by a teacher as well as later graffiti.

“I was shocked to see there was still writing on the chalkboard from the last day of school in 1998 listing the books needed for the day (along with a little graffiti),” Wilson said.

The Belmont County Port Authority will now work to attract a developer for the site.

“That deed will revert back to the Port Authority,” Vincenzo said. “The Port Authority will have two years to market that property, and we’re hoping that it sells like the Dollar General site did. That’ll be some added revenue.”

The total property was 11 acres. With the sale to Dollar General, about 6 acres that contain the school buildings remain.

Staff Writer Robert DeFrank contributed to this report.