AKRON, Ohio — Akron’s historic Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. Plant 1 Building is in its final days following an email News 5 received from Akron Communications Director Stephanie Marsh.
Marsh said no proposals were received per the instructions provided by the RFP deadline, except for a late proposal from Amerimar Realty Company.
In a good-faith effort, Marsh said the city reviewed Amerimar’s submission and held a meeting last Wednesday with the company to talk about its plans.
But Marsh said they determined Amerimar’s proposal was not a feasible path forward for the property due to multiple issues, so she said Eslich will start demolishing the plant’s back bay #4 sometime around Dec. 8.
Bay #3 will begin in mid-January, followed by Bay #2 in mid-February and then the front bay in mid-March, with a completion date in April.
Meanwhile, one preservationist group said it is working on a last-minute "Hail Mary" attempt to save some of it.
"The city promised Donnie Kammer for 10 years that they would save this front building,” said Progress through Preservation Advocacy Chair Dana Noel. “They didn’t even tell the Councilman until the last minute that this was their plan to tear it down.”
Progress through Preservation is planning an event this Wednesday to write letters to local leaders to try to save one of the clock faces.
"You lose the building. You lose the memory,” said Noel. “We haven’t given up because it’s still standing. As long as it’s still standing, there’s always the chance that they could stop at the front building and save it.”
Even preservationist, Ashley Martinez, said she’s not giving up because she knows how much this building means to her family and the community.
"My great-grandfather was a rubber worker at that plant, so basically that's how our family survived off that income, and then my grandfather worked at plant 1 and supported my mother through that,” said Martinez. “If they would save one of the clock bases, it would ensure that Firestone's legacy will survive.”
Earlier this fall, News 5 first told you about a September agreement between Councilman Donnie Kammer and Akron leaders to extend the plant’s demolition and find a qualified developer within 60 days.
RELATED: Akron City Council welcomes developer to save former Firestone Plant before demolition
We reached out to Kammer, and he texted News 5 the following statement:
“I’m very disappointed by the city administration and their decision and believe the administration never wanted a developer to re-purpose this historical property. Our city economic development Department showed zero passion in this process. This demolition will erase an important legacy of history in our city. I hope that the city will consider to offer an opportunity for a developer to submit any RFP while they move forward with demolition of the 3 rear portions of the building.”
Here's the list of reasons Marsh said the city rejected Amerimar’s proposal:
Amerimar’s proposal suffered from multiple issues, including:
- Positioning Akron taxpayers to assume fiscal risk for the project, including bearing the burden of cost overruns.
- A broad range of buildout estimates and costs makes it difficult to evaluate the true costs of the project and its feasibility.
- Making the City the primary, lease-paying tenant.
- A lack of specificity on the expected lease rate, which, if based on the parameters provided, would result in lease payments in excess of $1.8 million per year.
- Rejection of the RFP-required escrow payment is needed to guarantee completion of the project.
- Use of the subject property as a police station did not comply with the City’s previous Akron Police Department RFP, which made it clear that any future police station must be located within 1.5 miles of downtown Akron. Any consideration of Amerimar’s proposal to develop a new police station outside the location parameters previously provided would create an unfair exception that was not available to others during the RFP process.
The City held a meeting with Amerimar on Nov. 12 to discuss the above concerns and to inquire if Amerimar could make the development work without relying upon taxpayers and the City as backstops. During this meeting, Amerimar confirmed that: redeveloping 1200 Firestone required the City to support the project both as primary tenant and risk holder, it would not be willing to provide the required escrow payment to guarantee the project, and that it did not see a path forward for privately redeveloping this property without significant public support and risk. Given these representations, the City determined that the proposal was not a feasible path forward for the property, nor in the best interest of the city's taxpayer funds.
Each Bay will take 4 to 5 weeks to complete, with a completion date in April.
Nothing else is required from City Council at this point.
