Doehler-Jarvis cleanup project moves ahead with land transfer
Posted By: Toledo Blade on August 16, 2025. For more information, please click here to read the source article.
County officials are pushing ahead on the long-awaited cleanup of a former Doehler-Jarvis plant in central Toledo, which has been a “blight” on the community since it was abandoned nearly three decades ago.
Lucas County Economic Development Corporation transferred its portion of the property to the Lucas County Land Bank at the corporation’s meeting Friday. The land bank will oversee the project and eventually be responsible for the land once the work is complete.
Matt Heyrman, president of the economic development corporation, said he expects the project will go to bid in September with a target completion date in late 2026.
The project will cost $2.6 million, with more than $2 million coming from the state’s Brownfield Remediation Program. Mr. Heyrman said the nine-acre property will likely be used as a green space but could also be used as a solar field.
“This is not a property that, when we look at it, is likely ever going to be used for economic use,” Mr. Heyrman said. “Most likely it’s going to end up being a community asset, either a park of there’s been a discussion of solar fields to support energy for the community. All of those things are on the table.”
The die-cast foundry ceased operation in 1998, leaving behind vacant buildings which were demolished in 2012. While the demolition removed materials containing asbestos, it did not address other environmental concerns at the site.
Cleanup work will result in a “full site restoration,” which is planned to include the demolition and removal of concrete foundations, removal of contaminated soil, and groundwater treatment.
David Mann, president and CEO of the Lucas County Land Bank, previously told The Blade he hopes the transformation of the blighted property will improve the life of residents and make the site for a more attractive development in the future.
“It has been a tragedy for people who live in that Englewood neighborhood to get up in the morning and look out their window, and for 40 or 50 years, see this neglected, overgrown, environmentally contaminated site,” Mr. Mann said. “Solving that problem is just as important as attracting something in the future there.”
Lucas County contributed $500,000 from economic development funds to fulfill the $2 million grant’s 25 percent matching requirement. Commissioner Lisa Sobecki, at the economic development corporation’s meeting Friday, spoke in favor of the land bank’s work on the project.
“This has been a project that has sat there for a very long time, and it’s been an eyesore,” Ms. Sobecki said. “Every time I drive by, I’m just like man, I can’t wait to be able to get this eyesore gone from the community.”
Assessments of the site provided to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show the property contains lead, semivolatile organic compounds, and volatile organic compounds in the groundwater and soil. Examples of SVOCs include pesticides, oil-based products, and fire retardants, according to the EPA.
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