“We’re getting started cleaning up the most visible areas of the mill,” said Greg Gaines, director of city planning for West Carrollton. “It’s been vacant for 10 to 12 years when it closed as a paper mill.”
The demolition of the 4,100-square-foot building 57 is expected to cost about $100,000, but the overall cleanup of the complex is expected to cost between $2.7 and $2.8 million, and will be funded in part by a Neighborhood Stabilization Program and in part by City of West Carrollton Neighborhood Improvement Funds.
Built in 1859, the building served as a paper mill under numerous names and owners including Friend Paper Company, Oxford Paper Company, and Cross Point Paper Mill. In 2001, the Old Frasier Paper Company shut its doors, ending 142 years of paper production in the mill.
Part of the property was bought by an industrial company in 2004 for use as an industrial materials salvage operation. The city acquired the land in 2011.
The city rezoned the property six years ago so it would no longer be a heavy industrial space, Gaines said.
“The zoning is flexible at this point,” Gaines said. “We’ll make sure whatever goes in there next fits in with the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Gaines said he does not know the future plans for the space, but said “a few local companies” have expressed interest in parts of the property, declining to give further details because nothing is finalized.
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