WAPAKONETA, Ohio (WLIO) – Auglaize County is receiving more than $1 million to help demolish the former county home.
Ohio awarded $60 million in this round of Brownfield grants to clean up or assess 51 Brownfield sites statewide, including the Auglaize Acres property in Wapakoneta. The county was awarded $1,075,165, with an additional $250,000 contributed by the county to do the asbestos remediation and demolition of the building. Work is expected to begin sometime in 2025. Once completed, Wapakoneta Health Facilities plans to build a new nursing and assisted living center on the property. Auglaize County has been successful in securing state funding for projects aimed at encouraging economic development.
Ohio awarded $60 million in this round of Brownfield grants to clean up or assess 51 Brownfield sites statewide, including the Auglaize Acres property in Wapakoneta.
“We are grateful and thankful for the state putting these programs together, because they're very unique. The ownership doesn't have to be with the county, but it can be so we were able to tackle some projects that normally we wouldn't be able to. There have been, technically, three rounds or three years’ worth of Brownfield and Auglaize County has been successful every year, and finding those little niche properties that really fit for this program, and the state has awarded us money every time. So, for that, we are grateful,” says Erica Preston, Auglaize County Administrator.
Groundbreaking on the new facility could happen in 2026. The project is expected to create 87 new full-time jobs.
