Photo Provided Crews work to demolish the former Beallsville school building on April 18. The building is now completely torn down with cleanup efforts underway.

BEALLSVILLE — The former Beallsville school building has been demolished, possibly making way for something new to be constructed on the lot.

Demolition of the former high school building began April 18. Taylor Abbott, county treasurer and chairman of the Monroe County Land Reutilization Corp. or county land bank, said the work is now complete with cleanup efforts currently underway.

“The building is on the ground. Now they’ll go through and clean up debris and reclaim the ground, so they’ll put dirt in and seed the ground. By summertime, it should be a green lot,” he said.

Abbott said abatement work to remove hazardous material took place for about a month prior to the start of the demolition.

The former school building was constructed in the 1920s, operating as a school until its closing. Since the school closed in 2011, the building has incurred water damage and vandalism, leaving the interior in poor condition.

Abbott said razing the building was “bittersweet” for many residents in the community.

“Even my dad went to school there. Sadly, I had to call him on his birthday to tell him they started demolishing the building he went to school in,” Abbott said, adding that his father graduated from the former high school in 1978. “He had so many good memories there.”

He said though officials would prefer not to demolish some of these older structures, it is necessary as it is not financially feasible to salvage the buildings once they are in such poor condition.

Abbott said there were many spectators who watched through the stages of the demo process.

“Several residents have done an excellent job documenting the process, which is good for prosperity’s sake. It’s always bittersweet when a structure like this that has been a part of the community goes down, but the condition that it was in, just as (former) Clairington school was in. We had the money available, and the owners approached us and we did what we felt was needed at the time,” he said.

He said it has been a smooth process with no issues during the demolition phase with the project remaining on track.

The demolition is one of dozens being conducted through the county land bank, which works to revitalize communities by getting rid of dilapidated structures. The land bank secured $9,044,000 in funding last year to remove numerous structures throughout the county. This particular project received $615,300 for cleanup and remediation.

The property is owned by the Beallsville 1st and Goal Club. According to the organization’s application, they plan to redevelop the site for “community-based uses, such as outdoor recreational use or a multi-purpose building;” however, no concrete plans have been announced as of yet.

Though he is not involved in the discussion regarding the fate of the lot, Abbott said he has spoken to members who have expressed the desire to do something with the soon-to-be empty property.

Abbott said Raze International, the company hired to perform the demolition work, has been collecting bricks from the former school for the 1st and Goal Club, which will have them available for interested residents.

To date, the county land bank has successfully torn down 26 residential structures and two former school buildings. The project at Long Ridge Energy — remediation of foundational concrete at the former Ormet plant — is underway.

Abbott said they are continuing their efforts to improve the local area. He testified at the Ohio Statehouse Finance Committee in March seeking an additional $500 million for land banks in the 2024-25 budget. He said he was recently informed that the state will add the funds to the budget. Also, he said he shared his support for the state utilizing the development fund for redevelopment of existing sites.

“All total $3 billion will be, hopefully will be, available for land banks around the state and also for developing and redeveloping existing sites for future projects,” he said.