Former Westinghouse 'A' building demolition begins Dec. 19

Lou Whitmire, Mansfield News Journal
·2 min read

Demolition on the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street is set to begin around 3 p.m. Dec. 19 and is expected to take six to 10 weeks.

Members of the Richland County Land Bank board heard an update Wednesday on the former Coffman building. Work on the removal of the historic doorway began this week. The doorway is expected to be removed Thursday, an employee of WR Restoration of Twinsburg said at the site Wednesday, where overhead protection was erected above the doorway to protect workers from the potential for falling bricks while removing the stone door frame.

More:Monument proposed for Westinghouse, Mansfield manufacturing history

The historic doorframe at the Westinghouse "A" Building is being proposed as a monument at the site to honor Westinghouse, manufacturing in Mansfield, the history of women in the workforce, and the "Westinghouse Girls" who worked in the "A" Building.

Employees of WR Restoration of Twinsburg worked Wednesday to maintain overhead protection before removing the doorway of the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street. The doorway will become a monument to Mansfield manufacturing at the site in the future.
Employees of WR Restoration of Twinsburg worked Wednesday to maintain overhead protection before removing the doorway of the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street. The doorway will become a monument to Mansfield manufacturing at the site in the future.

Land Bank manager Amy Hamrick said that on Nov. 23 a section of the exterior brick pulled away and fell from between the fourth and sixth floors of the Westinghouse building, along the corner of East Fifth Street and the railroad tracks, falling mostly along the railroad site.

Earlier this year, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was in Mansfield to announce the first round of the Ohio Department of Development Brownfield Program awards, providing funds for demolition and remediation of the former Westinghouse "A" building and the concrete slab along West Fifth Street. The governor announced the Mansfield project is getting $3 million for cleanup of petroleum tanks and hazardous materials and demolition. City and county funds, in the amount of $500,000 each, also were made toward the project.

DeWine has been invited to an invitation-only event on Dec. 19 to watch the demolition, Hamrick said.

The historic doorway of the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street is being removed this week by WR Restoration of Twinsburg. Employees of the company Wednesday worked to maintain overhead protection before removing the doorway on Thursday for a future monument to Mansfield manufacturing.
The historic doorway of the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street is being removed this week by WR Restoration of Twinsburg. Employees of the company Wednesday worked to maintain overhead protection before removing the doorway on Thursday for a future monument to Mansfield manufacturing.

The Richland County Land Bank awarded the demolition contract for the former Westinghouse building to R&D Excavating of Crestline in August. The company's bid was $3.9 million.

The land bank is the owner of the former Westinghouse building on East Fifth Street and its adjacent 14 acres. Westinghouse Electric Products Co. began in Pittsburgh in 1886. The Mansfield plant was built in 1919 and over the decades underwent changes in ownership. The sprawling factory was closed in 1990.

The historic doorframe at the Westinghouse ''A" Building is being proposed as a monument at the site to honor Westinghouse, manufacturing in Mansfield and the "Westinghouse Girls" who worked in the "A" Building. Jennifer Kime of Downtown Mansfield Inc. presented the proposal at last week's meeting of the Richland County Land Bank.
The historic doorframe at the Westinghouse ''A" Building is being proposed as a monument at the site to honor Westinghouse, manufacturing in Mansfield and the "Westinghouse Girls" who worked in the "A" Building. Jennifer Kime of Downtown Mansfield Inc. presented the proposal at last week's meeting of the Richland County Land Bank.

In other land bank business, the board voted to transfer the land-bank owned Linden Pool property to William Barber of Blue Door Development to build six to eight single family homes, pending city approval, with one car garage.

The next board meeting is 1 p.m. Jan. 4, 2023.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Historic door frame part of monument to Mansfield manufacturing