The state of Ohio has announced nearly $60 million in grants across the state to clean up vacant buildings and empty industrial sites to prepare them for redevelopment.
The West End's Regal Theater, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2023, will receive just over $486,000 to remove asbestos and other potentially hazardous materials. The state says this cleanup project is intended to prepare the historic theater for future investment.
The Regal Theater will be the new home of the , named after Cincinnati community activist and artist Robert O'Neal.
O'Neal's daughter, Toilynn O'Neal Turner, is the CEO and founder of the center. She says the investment will help preserve the structure and breathe new life into the iconic theater that was a fixture in the West End for decades.
"The Regal to me is a unifier," she told WVXU. "It will bring those people together in that neighborhood as a place that they can call their own."
Other area sites on the list
Other sites set for cleanup in Cincinnati include the former Lunkenheimer Valve Company office building in South Fairmount and a former lumberyard in Northside.
The old Lunkenheimer office, which connects to the Lunkenheimer factory, is a three-story 50,000-square-foot building built in 1910. The state says it's sending a $1.2 million grant to address asbestos contamination, stabilize the structure, and preserve it. The project is expected to create 55 temporary construction jobs and three permanent jobs.
More than $443,000 is being sent to remove approximately 2,500 tons of impacted soil at the empty lumberyard at the corner of Cherry and Cooper streets to clear the way for redevelopment. The city of Cincinnati purchased the site in 2024, and at least a portion of the redevelopment project must be income-restricted housing.
Outside of Cincinnati, a structure at the site of the former Mohawk Fine Papers building in Hamilton will be demolished, along with any parking surfaces and concrete slabs throughout the site. The nearly $2.2 million demolition project plans to eliminate any environmental hazards and revitalize the location.
Ohio also will send $300,000 to the Warren County Port Authority to assess a 10-acre former industrial property in downtown Franklin for redevelopment. The assessment will document any contamination from petroleum products, solvents, and metals at the site. The state says the assessment will guide a mixed-use housing and retail district plan.
Read more:
