Former health building slated to come down this winter

After years of waiting, a large project will help shape the beautification and usefulness of an important area in Millersburg.

This winter could mark the end of an era for what was once an important building in the Holmes County landscape.

The former Holmes County Health Department building, located adjacent to Pomerene Hospital, is slated to be razed this winter as the final project of phase one of the demolition grant that has seen the county tear down several houses, a hotel and now the health department building.

“This is the last of the first (round), but it is a big one,” Holmes County planning commissioner Arnie Oliver said. “This one is bigger than anything I’ve been involved with tearing down before, and it will take some work.”

That is the case because the building was erected out of concrete and steel.

As Oliver continues to accumulate potential partners for the next phase of demolition dollars, he is eager to see the eyesore that is the former health department come down, noting the property can then be used by the hospital rather than sitting there as an unusable building.

Oliver said he has his fingers crossed that the demolition project will take place this winter. He said there are currently six different construction companies that are prequalified to bid on the project, and thus far three have submitted a bid or shown an interest.

He said because of the position and location of the building, he isn’t sure how a company will attack the project of tearing the building down.

In addition to the building, there is a home located to the south that also is part of the hospital’s land and will more than likely be turned into much needed parking.

“Right now it’s useless land,” Oliver said. “It’s exciting to see it will soon become something much more valuable, which is the point of this grant funding.”

Oliver said he is currently in discussion with leaders at Pomerene Hospital to discuss the demolition project and the steps necessary to make it happen.

Oliver said the hospital also has talked to him about this project opening the door for possible future expansion.

“It’s our first meeting, so we’re going over the process,” Oliver said. “This is really going to benefit the hospital, and there is a real need for it.”

On Monday, Dec. 11, the Holmes County commissioners passed a resolution authorizing the submission of the PY 2023 CDBG Program Application Competitive Downtown Revitalization Grant.

Oliver also is involved with that project and said the application is one that has been proposed more than one year ago but has had to go through many different challenges before coming to fruition.

“It is designed to create opportunities for downtown facades, roofs and window improvements,” Oliver said of the grant.

The resolution contained five different parts for the commissioners to pass. One part was an anti-displacement form that states that if renovation is done on a building, the county can’t simply move people out and relocate them.

There was an environmental review built around fair housing and planning, and because it is downtown, it must comply with the Target of Opportunity’s standard regulations for rehabilitation, denoting the structures involved will maintain the historical character, features and materials in which they were initially built and intended.

“It’s well stated, and finally they are getting the ball rolling on this funding,” commissioner Dave Hall said. “I think this will go well, and potentially, it can marry up with our Appalachian grants that could work hand in hand together down the road.”

In other commissioner news, the board passed proclamations honoring both the West Holmes girls soccer team, which fought its way to state for the first time in school history, and the West Holmes girls cross country team, which reached the state meet for the third consecutive season, also a school record.

The names of each team’s participants were read off and will receive individual proclamations denoting their achievements.

“As we get kids who are hitting that high level of athletic achievement, there is also the academic side, and both teams did really well there,” Hall said. “They are high-end-level students.”

Hall said not only is this a celebration of the teams’ accomplishments, but also the community that supported them throughout the year.