LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) — After sitting vacant for more than a decade, Memorial Hall is one step closer to a possible comeback, though what it will become is still up in the air.
Allen County commissioners approved a cooperative agreement with the Allen County Port Authority on Thursday, allowing the use of $10 million in state funding to begin planning for the historic building’s future. Memorial Hall has been closed since 2014 after inspectors ruled it unsafe. The state funding will pay for studies to determine what the building could be redeveloped into, though officials stress there is no final plan yet.
“We have full confidence, just as the state does, that the Port Authority will be able to study that structure and bring recommendations to you know how those dollars should be used. And we're excited that they will be able to use those and hopefully be able to provide or identify a future use of that structure. Again, it's been sitting there for quite some time and lot of questions on that, but if there is an entity that's going to be able to identify that, it's the business folks that make up the Port Authority,” said Cory Noonan, Allen County commissioner.
The Port Authority has also approved Freytag and Associates, based in Sidney, Ohio, as the design firm for the project.
Director Cindy Leis said the firm’s existing working relationship with the Port Authority played a key role in the decision, as the board reviewed five design proposals.
“One of the lists on the criteria that we judged was whether they had any previous experience with the owner and the owner being the Port Authority, and we have had experience with Freytag. They've done some preliminary studies on the Memorial Hall project through a different source of funding that was initially put forth,” Leis said.
Next, the Port Authority will review cost proposals from three construction management companies as the planning process continues.
