Former Driggs Dairy Building Demolition News Conference

Monday, April 26, 2021

Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz and Neighborhoods Department Director Rosalyn Clemens will hold a news conference at 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 27 at the site of the former Driggs Dairy, 1157 Grand Ave.

“This is a proactive step in our strategy for vacant land re-use and smart land assembly,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “Too many neighborhoods in Toledo are impacted by abandoned industrial or commercial sites that contribute to blight, declining property values, and crime, and that is why we are razing this building while also encouraging the redevelopment of vacant property across our community, like we did at Southwyck and like you will soon see at the former North Towne Square Mall property.”

Ms. Clemens said Toledoans will see more abandoned properties addressed in the near future.

“The Toledo Neighborhoods Departments has begun a strategic initiative to enhance our neighborhoods by environmental cleanup, demolition, and restoration of sites like Driggs Dairy,” Ms. Clemens said. “Our goal is to tackle at least one of these sites every year and work with residents to design interim place making features and plan for new uses that will revitalize neighborhoods.”

Neighborhood activist K. LaVerne Redden will join the mayor and Ms. Clemens for the news conference.

Driggs Dairy, a business based in Palmyra, Mich., expanded into Toledo during the 1930s with a milk-processing plant on Grand Avenue. The Toledo Department of Neighborhoods awarded a contract for the demolition and removal of the existing 7,300-square-foot building, concrete debris, perimeter fencing, and asphalt parking areas. The area will be backfilled with two feet of clean soil and dressed with six inches of topsoil for greening.

“We are strategically using federal Community Development Block Grant funding for demolition and repurposing of abandoned, blighted buildings,” the mayor said. “This demolition will produce a positive community outcome in the neighborhood, including increased property values and public safety improvements.”

Members of the media are asked to wear face coverings during the news conference. The news conference will be streamed live on the City of Toledo Facebook page.

WHO: Mayor Kapszukiewicz, Ms. Clemens, Ms. Redden
WHAT: News Conference
WHEN: 9 a.m., Tuesday, April 27
WHERE: 1157 Grand Ave.

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