ELYRIA — The city is in the middle of a tug-of-war between residents who want to see the property and land Wal-Mart abandoned on Griswold Road turned into green space and the Arkansas-based corporation’s rights as private property owners.
A worker checks the pump pulling smelly water from the basement of the former Maplewood Elementary School. (CT photo by Bruce Bishop.)
John Pittman, a resident of West River Road North, is leading the charge to get the property cleared and said he will keep working at it until he is successful.
“For me, this started four years ago when they said they wanted to turn the property into a Walmart Supercenter. They put up a construction fence, but just let it waste away while they decided they didn’t want to bother with the store at all,” Pittman said from his front yard, which faces the east side of the property. “This company has the money. They can just bring the buildings down, clear the land and just leave it as vacant space until someone comes along to buy it.”
The area in question is roughly 20 acres and includes several buildings, the most notable being the old Maplewood Elementary School. Another brick building on the land was used by the state as an unemployment office.
Wal-Mart purchased the property in 2006 with the idea it would build a superstore to replace a store near Midway Mall at the Midway Crossings Plaza. But in the years that followed, Wal-Mart built a store in Lorain and closed the Midway Crossings store. The property has been for sale for several years.
Wal-Mart has not responded to a request for comment.
Pittman said over the years he has spoken with Wal-Mart officials to no avail. It was not until a town hall meeting hosted by Councilman Mark Craig, I-4th Ward, that he said someone from the city finally listened to his concerns about tall grass growing around the property and standing water in and around the buildings.
Kevin Brubaker, deputy safety service director, said the first time he toured the property earlier this summer he found that the school had been breached and there was evidence that someone had trespassed. Water in the school had completely inundated the basement and up to the first floor landing.
“My first call to Wal-Mart was not a happy call, because I told them they had to secure the fence and the building, cut the grass and get the water out of the building,” he said. “And, I must say they have done just that, which leaves us a little hand-tied to force them to take the building down. They were very receptive and quick to answer.”
Thursday, a private company hired by Wal-Mart to handle the water issues in the building could be seen using a huge sewer vacuum to pump water from the building into the city’s wastewater system. It was an all-day job.
Brubaker said the city sent a crew from its Wastewater Department to do a water test last week to check for chlorine and PCBs before giving Wal-Mart the go-ahead to dump the water into the city sewers. Also, the pumps were metered so a sewer bill could be sent to Wal-Mart when the clean-up was done.
In two days, crews pumped more than 810,000 gallons of water out of the old school.
“With what they will pay for sewer services and what they paid the company to do the work, I think they probably could have just taken the building down and been done with it,” he said. “But at this point, as long as they do their job to keep the property secure, the city will not have a major concern. We are not going to push too hard. They are being a good neighbor and we are working with them to positively get them to do the right thing.”
Pittman said he won’t stop until he can look out his window and see nothing but a clear lot.
“I’m looking out for my neighborhood,” he said. “It’s been an eyesore for so many years and I will keep at it,” he said.
Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.
