Richland County committee approves bids to demolish two campus buildings, includes Science Building as option

The Richland County Redevelopment Committee voted to solicit bids to demolish two campus buildings and to include the Science Building as an optional third structure, the committee decided during a meeting to forward the recommendation to the county executive and the full county board for approval.

The action is meant to clear site infrastructure and prepare county-owned land for redevelopment. Committee members and staff emphasized the need to cut utilities, account for hazardous materials remediation and salvage reusable equipment before work begins. Committee members said bids should include utility-disconnection work as a separable cost and that remediation estimates should assume asbestos and other hazardous-material handling.

The bid authorization followed months of preparatory work and inventorying of campus contents. Committee members reported that local groups have already taken many items: the community theater removed costumes; the Richland campus foundation removed nostalgic items and artwork; Pine Valley’s campus kitchen will receive large appliances; and local school and library staff removed instructional equipment and books. Committee members discussed selling a small number of higher‑value items by auction or online sale and noted many remaining items have only bulk or scrap value.

Supervisor Carol said the county is also working to submit a redevelopment grant application and stressed available funds should be spent on the project: “We want to do is make sure we spend the whole $2,000,000. It’s sitting on the table,” she said. Committee members said the grant paperwork is nearly complete and that staff aim to submit it by the end of the week.

On demolition specifics, staff recommended bidding the two primary buildings first (classroom and library) and including the Science Building as an optional line item so the county can proceed on the two known structures while retaining the option to add the Science Building later. Committee members estimated demolition and related site work could run in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a rough range discussed in the meeting of roughly $200,000–$300,000 for demolition-only work; members cautioned this does not include downstream site remediation or redevelopment costs.

Committee members outlined a sequence of preparatory steps: secure separate quotes to disconnect utilities (electric, water, heat), allow maintenance staff time to remove salvageable county assets (for use in other county buildings), and ensure the school and other tenants have independent services before a demolition contractor begins work. Staff reported that the city has marked water shutoffs and that a local contractor gave an initial quote to disconnect electrical service.

Members also discussed property boundaries for redevelopment and a proposed access road to connect the high school area to the parcel for Simon’s (a local facility referenced in the meeting). The committee debated whether to include adjacent cropland and trail corridors in an initial redevelopment parcel or to reserve those areas for later phases. Committee members asked survey work to define an explicit boundary for the land to be made available for redevelopment and noted that road construction could be designed to city standards so it could later become a city street.

The committee also reviewed infrastructure constraints: existing water and sewer services may be inadequate for some redevelopment uses, and parts of the campus sit near a flood plain that could constrain future building footprints. Staff said these service and flood‑plain constraints will affect final development plans and utility planning.

Formal action: committee member Gary made the motion to solicit bids for demolition of the two buildings and include the Science Building as an option; committee member Bob seconded the motion. The motion passed and will be sent to the executive committee and full county board for final approval.

Next steps identified by the committee include securing utility‑disconnection work, finalizing and issuing demolition bid documents, cataloging salvageable county property for reuse or sale, and completing the grant submission. The committee set a follow-up meeting for Oct. 22 to review progress and pending materials for the executive and full‑board hearings.