BELMONT COUNTY, Ohio (WTRF)

The former Habilitation Center on Hammond Road in St. Clairsville is bound for the wrecking ball.

County commissioners opened bids Wednesday for demolition work, ranging from $237,000 to $518,000.

Commissioners say fortunately the county won’t have to pay the bill.

“We’ll move on to demolition soon,” said J.P. Dutton, commission president. “We’ve been working on facility issues for the past few years making it a real priority for the county. We’ve kind of gotten behind as a county in dealing with facilities. We actually have three buildings that we look to demolish at some point. This is one of those three. Fortunately we were able to get funding from the State of Ohio to do it through a Brownfields grant from Governor DeWine, which we greatly appreciate.”

The other two buildings which commissioners hope to tear down are the old Oak View building off National Road and the former County Home on Route 331.

The old Oak View building still houses the county records, but it is reportedly insufficient.

The old County Home has been vacant for years and is in an extreme state of disrepair.

Those two reportedly do not qualify for Brownfields funding.