The 84-year-old building had been on the top 10 list of tax delinquent properties in Clark County and was the No. 1 property code violator in Springfield in 2016.
The building has been a safety concern since a fire damaged most of the structure in September 2016.
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“A portion of the western part of the building actually collapsed as part of the fire,” said Steve Thompson, Springfield’s Planning, Zoning and Code Administrator. “A lot the ceiling on the second floor collapsed.”
At the time of the blaze, the 35,000-square foot building had been vacant for several years.
Fire officials made the decision at the time to fight the fire defensively — choosing not to risk firefighters because there was nothing worth saving in the structure.
No one was injured, but the doors and windows that were removed from the fire efforts left the building exposed to the public.
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“It just became a dumping ground. Anyone with a pick up truck would dump their trash in it,” Thompson said.
Euclid Elements sits on 0.16 acres. The combined land and building value was appraised at about $55,000 last year, and the property is currently owned by the state.
Thompson said when the building isn’t sold at sheriff or auditor’s sales, it’s forfeited to the state. The burden to maintain the properties falls on the city due to an Attorney General’s decision from almost 100 years ago.
In February, Springfield Law Director Jerry Strozdas wrote a letter to the Ohio Attorney General’s Office asking it to take better care of the properties that had been forfeited to it, including the Euclid Elements property.
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The property is located next to the Little Miami Trail, a multi-use path from Springfield to Cincinnati.
“This is a blighting influence on the neighborhood and an eyesore to recreational visitors and local users,” the letter says.
Thompson said the property was creating an unsafe environment for residents.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to spend our own money dealing with something that’s not ours,” he said. “But we’re here to protect the public health and safety, so sometimes that’s what it takes.”
This is the second warehouse in the last month to be bulldozed within a 1.5 mile radius.
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Thompson said enough citizens were questioning what was being done about the properties for the city to make demolition a priority.
In April, the main building of the Hursh Container factory near Monroe and Gallagher Streets was demolished after it was determined to be a “public nuisance” by the City.
Hursh Container factory shared a wall with the Tri-State Pallet warehouse, which burned for more than 24 hours in a 2015 fire — the largest blaze in Springfield since the Crowell-Collier plant blaze in 1999.
The city did not have immediate plans for redevelopment of the Hursh Container site.
Tony Smith Wrecking demolished both Hursh Container and Euclid Elements buildings.
Staff Writer Parker Perry contributed to this article.
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