Posted August 22, 200420 yr From http://www.stritas.org St. Rita's Medical Center announces details of a $130 million expansion project called The Medical Center of the Future Securing the needed approvals to move forward, Medical Center officials pledge the venture will be the most significant expansion in its 85-year history. "Once construction is complete, residents in West Central Ohio will witness a transformation," says Jim Reber, President and CEO, St. Rita's Medical Center. "Over the past five years we've seen our services grow nearly 40%. Because of this increasing demand for high quality care and advanced technology, St. Rita's is facing serious space limitations. We believe The Medical Center of the Future will allow for needed expansion, a greater focus on patients and families, space for cutting-edge technology, easier access and additional parking," says Reber. By 2007, many changes will take place inside and outside of the Medical Center. The Lima campus will span six city blocks, add a nine-story patient tower equipped with the most advanced technology including high-speed internet access and feature spacious patient and family suites. Floors will house dedicated specialty centers such as orthopedics, heart, cancer and neurology, among others. Each floor will feature multiple family lounges and a fully equipped kitchen to accommodate families that want to remain close by. The project will create a safe campus environment. Plans call for the closure of High and Collett Streets. Patients and visitors will now enter the campus with ease from Charles Street, two blocks west of the current entrance. No longer will pedestrians have to walk across busy streets, vehicles will travel down a boulevard and passengers will enter the medical center beneath a large, all weather canopy. As St. Rita's expands its services, it will be necessary to create additional, convenient parking as well. For added patient convenience, an outpatient services department will be located directly off the main lobby. Patients can quickly access all pre-admission testing, lab work, X-rays, rapid CT scanning, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound. Through patient surveys and community focus groups, residents responded overwhelmingly to relocating these services into a one-stop-shop approach. A High Street Mall and enclosed walkways will allow patients and visitors easy access to all areas of the Medical Center including St. Rita's four medical office buildings. A coffee shop, pharmacy, bigger gift shop, and health resource center will also be added. The expansion will be environmentally friendly, significantly reducing energy costs. It will be more efficient for staff and further enhance patient safety. Medical Center officials estimate the expansion will create hundreds of construction jobs and 300 – 500 permanent health care positions. "We are very excited about this project and feel it will have far-reaching impact on the greater Lima community. Most importantly, the project will help us meet the health care needs of residents close to home. For Lima, the expansion means hard earned dollars will stay in our community and create needed jobs. Ultimately, it will improve people's quality of life," says Brian Smith, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President, St. Rita's. St. Rita's is expected to begin initial construction west of the campus at the corner of Collett and High Streets by mid to late summer. The entire expansion is slated for completion in 2007.
August 22, 200420 yr From http://www.limaohio.com/ On July 11, The Lima News presented its position to close parts of High Street and Collett Street to accommodate the expansion plans of St. Rita’s Medical Center. The editorial urged readers tempted to sign a petition designed to put the issue on the November ballot “to ignore it in favor of Lima’s continued economic well-being.” The suggestion that the thousands of Lima residents convinced that the closings are unnecessary are somehow antigrowth couldn’t be further from the truth. Count us among those who support the extension on the grounds that it will bring 200 to 300 jobs to Lima over the next three years. Lima needs those jobs, and we are in favor of any project that creates them. However, we reject the argument that an expansion requiring the street closings will create more jobs than one that keeps the roads open. The larger hospital will require a larger staff. That would be as true if the new building sat on closed streets as it would if it straddled open streets, as we recommend, and no one who has run the numbers has suggested otherwise. Open or closed, the streets have nothing to do with job creation. It’s high time we decouple the two issues. I encourage all concerned residents on Nov. 2 to vote against St. Rita’s plan to appropriate our streets. Larry L. Oatman lives in Lima and is the spokesman for Access Right, a group of residents dedicated to keeping High and Collett streets open. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the November election.
December 2, 200420 yr Premcor plans would vault Lima to top tier LIMA — If a proposed $1 billion upgrade is completed at the Premcor Lima Refinery, the project would vault the plant to among the top refineries in the country, the company believes. “There’s very few refineries that could take this crude oil and refine it,” company president and chief operating officer Hank Kuchta said. “Even Port Arthur (another Premcor plant) would have a tough time processing this material. This will be a first.” The crude oil in question is a heavy, or sour, crude melted and pumped from the wilderness of northeastern Alberta, Canada, to Lima. The oil is a very low quality, and has roughly seven times the sulfur content than the oil the plant now refines, Kuchta said. Premcor and EnCana, which operates the Alberta oil field, are proposing a joint venture to upgrade the refinery to be able to process the heavier oil. They plan to spend the next year studying the concept. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com
December 2, 200420 yr I just hope the state steps up to the plate with enviromental regulations. Refineries are dirty, smelly and ugly on good days. South Louisiana is packed with them and it stinks. They say this plant is going to process high sulfer oil. But, I know the state could use the economic boost. If they enforce the laws already on the books, it could be good for the area.
April 30, 200520 yr I read a few days ago that a company called Valero bought Premcor for $8 billion and will be North America's largest crude oil refiner. From what I understand, Premcor still had expansion plans in the works and the leverage of having such a huge company behind it now might make things happen. (Speculation on my part.)
May 2, 200520 yr P&G interested in sites in Bath and Jackson townships By HEATHER RUTZ [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Procter & Gamble is actively pursuing two sites, one in Jackson Township and another in Bath Township, for a possible warehouse project. The company has not decided on a site, said Phil Gordon, a human resources manager at the Lima plant, but is nearing offering landowners options for purchase. On Wednesday, Gordon confirmed P&G is doing survey and soil sample work on property along Reservoir and McClure roads in Jackson Township before it offers an option, but he would not comment otherwise on specific properties or which land in the two townships the company is considering. More at www.limaohio.com
May 2, 200520 yr That seems to be what everyone is assuming. However, it sounds like some people feel Valero has paid too much for Premcor, which will affect its debt rating--making it more difficult and expensive to borrow money. So who knows how this will play out. Overall, it does sound good for Lima though because Valero is very much into refining heavy crude, which is what the Lima upgrade is for. Also, the plan was a partnership with EnCana so it sounds like they may continue with the partnership or Valero says they may persue it on their own. The acquisition would make Valero the largest refiner in North America with a capacity of 138.6 million gallons per day, moving it ahead of Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips, Shell and BP. Valero will have total assets of $25 billion and annual revenues of nearly $70 billion, which would rank it 15th on the FORTUNE 500 listing of the nation’s largest publicly traded companies.
May 2, 200520 yr Also, it seems like everyone at the "Lima Chemical Campus" is changing names these days... A butanediol unit was sold by BP Chemicals to International Specialty Products in March. BP Chemicals this month became part of Innovene, an offshoot of BP Global. And the refinery... Solar. Sohio. BP. Clark. Premcor. and now Valero. Seems like lately they've been changing their name more often than a bank.
June 14, 200519 yr P&G opposition stems from truck traffic By HEATHER RUTZ [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Procter & Gamble Co. officials attending a public rezoning hearing tonight will likely hear much of the same opposition to the company’s project that they’ve heard from residents in four recent neighborhood meetings. Some neighbors of the company’s Bath Township liquid laundry detergent and softener plant again opposed at a final neighborhood meeting plans for a 1.2-million-square-foot warehouse and drop lot. The company wants the township to rezone the land from agricultural to manufacturing use. Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission approved a variance for the land last week. The Bath Township Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing on the zoning change to-night and make a recommendation to township trustees, who have the final decision. More at www.limaohio.com
August 11, 200519 yr Ethanol plant gets more permits BY JIM SABIN LIMA NEWS LIMA — Greater Ohio Ethanol has obtained a permit to reroute part of an intermittent stream and move a wetland to clear the way for its planned $80 million ethanol plant on Hanthorn Road. The permit was obtained after a public hearing in June in which some residents voiced con-cerns about contaminants being discharged into Lima. It is one of a pair of permits needed to begin moving ground for construction purposes, company president Greg Kruger said. The second permit, from the Army Corps of Engineers, could come later this week, he said. The two permits cover essentially the same thing, but the latter is strictly for governmental agency review. “Once those two permits are in hand, then that allows us to start site work and actually start stripping topsoil,” Kruger said. A storm water permit during construction was also obtained last week, Kruger said. The company hopes to break ground this month on the plant, though it is still working to resolve an appeal of its air permit filed by a pair of residents nearby on Hanthorn Road. While the appeal doesn’t call for delaying the project, Kruger said he hopes to have it resolved soon. MORE: http://www.limanews.com
August 30, 200519 yr State awards $1.6 million tax credit to P&G By HEATHER RUTZ [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — A state board awarded Procter & Gamble Co. a tax credit worth up to $1.6 million Monday for the company’s proposed warehouse and distribution center. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority awarded P&G the 65 percent tax credit for nine years, ac-cording to the Ohio Department of Development. The company pledged to maintain 477 jobs at its Lima plant and create 250 jobs in the first three years of the $144 million project. P&G is also required to maintain operations at the plant for 18 years. The state will provide the tax credit based on the wages of employees in connection with the project, said Marcel Wagner, president of Allen Economic Development Group. P&G has nearly 110,000 employees working in more than 80 countries worldwide, with 13,500 employed in Ohio. Its headquarters is in Cincinnati. More at www.limaohio.com
October 14, 200519 yr From the 10/11/05 Lima News: Consolidation reason for Milcor closing; owner said Milcor was ahead of expectations By TIM RAUSCH 10/11/2005 [email protected] LIMA — Consolidation of manufacturing operations is the reason Michigan-based Hart & Cooley Inc. wants to close Milcor Industries in Lima. “It is anticipated that plant operations will be phased out over the next six months,” said Randy Kirby, director of corporate human resources for Hart & Cooley. Hart & Cooley’s parent company, Tomkins PLC, bought Milcor in January from owner Gibraltar Industries. The Lima facility at 1150 N. Cable Road employs more than 280 people. Milcor makes grilles, registers, diffusers, heat and smoke vents and products for the roofing industry. Tomkins bought Milcor because it has similar product lines to its Hart & Cooley subsidiary. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=18452
October 21, 200519 yr P&G corporate's office now behind warehouse, private road By HEATHER RUTZ 10/18/2005 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Procter & Gamble Co. approved the Lima plant’s proposed $100 million distribution center and warehouse project, pending a community vote Nov. 8 on a rezoning issue. The company also approved the plant’s plans for a private connector road between the existing plant on Reservoir Road and the distribution center, P&G officials said Monday. The moves send a clear message to the community that P&G is behind the project and makes the rezoning vote that much more important, company spokesman Phil Gordon said. “It’s a significant milestone,” Gordon said. “It brings the rezoning vote, which was already important, into even more focus. It’s the deciding factor.” More at www.limaohio.com
October 27, 200519 yr From the 10/27/05 Lima News: Plant infrastructure gains approval By JIM SABIN 10/27/2005 LIMA — The Lima City Planning Commission approved the layout of infrastructure im-provements around Greater Ohio Ethanol on Wednesday afternoon. The plan includes widening Hanthorn Road to three lanes for a 1,350-foot stretch just west of Interstate 75, allowing for a turn lane. That will turn onto Houx Parkway, the new road being built leading into the plant. It is named for David Houx, a partner in the project who died last year in a plane crash. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=18975
November 9, 200519 yr Bath voters give P&G big victory By HEATHER RUTZ 11/09/2005 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Township voters gave their support Tuesday to a zoning change, and a company’s plans for a $100 million warehouse and distribution center. The rezoning from rural to manufacturing passed with 81 percent of the vote, 2,623 to 597, according to unofficial results from the Allen County Board of Elections. The vote clears the way for Procter & Gamble’s planned development on 312 acres on Reser-voir Road, east of the company’s liquid laundry detergent and fabric softener plant. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=19444
November 14, 200519 yr From the 11/10/05 Lima News: City, county want Milcor owner investigated By JIM SABIN 11/10/2005 LIMA — Local political leaders are using a two-pronged approach to try to keep Milcor open in Lima. While trying to drum up public support for the plant, Lima Mayor David Berger and Allen County Commissioner Dan Reiff said they will call on U.S. Rep. Michael Oxley to push for a federal antitrust investigation into the company seeking to close the plant. “We believe that the company has a market share that gives them an entirely dominant and monopolistic condition, and that they have developed a predatory approach that we believe is illegal,” Berger said during the city’s weekly news conference Wednesday. He and Commissioner Greg Sneary spoke to officials from Hart & Cooley, the firm that acquired Milcor earlier this year, about two weeks ago, Berger said. "The company stated that they were open to proposals, but that this was driven by an over-capacity of manufacturing that they discovered after they had purchased the plant,” Berger said. “We believe that Hart & Cooley is a profitable company, but they’re not stupid. Bottom line is, neither of us believed what the company told us.” Instead, he said he believes the company simply bought Milcor to close it, eliminating a source of competition, he said. “It appears as though this is their mode of operation,” Reiff added. “This isn’t the first plant they’ve moved this way on.” http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=19482
November 20, 200519 yr From the 11/16/05 Lima News: P&G planning warehouse construction start next spring By HEATHER RUTZ 11/16/2005 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — With a zoning change approved, Procter & Gamble Co. will begin construction on its warehouse and distribution center in early spring and begin operating parts of it by early 2007. The massive $100 million development will change the landscape along Reservoir Road, east of P&G’s plant. It will include a distribution center with parking for 1,000 semitrailers and a warehouse that is 40 acres under roof and a half-mile long. Last week, township voters overwhelmingly approved a trustees’ decision to rezone 312 acres of farmland from rural to manufacturing. P&G is finalizing real estate deals with property owners for a private road it plans to construct between its plant and warehouse, Hoffman said. The company will use a $4.3 million package from the Ohio Department of Development. The deal includes a $500,000 federal block grant, $1.6 million tax credit and $200,000 for job training. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=19650
November 20, 200519 yr From the 11/16/05 Lima News: Milcor union rallying support for plant By JIM SABIN 11/16/2005 [email protected] LIMA — The workers at Milcor are staging a rally on Sunday, inviting politicians, labor unions and anyone else who wants to offer support. The plant’s union is doing whatever it can to save the plant’s jobs in the wake of the announced decision to close the plant. “We basically want to get as many people out as we can,” said Clayton Hadden, president of Local 778 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Ironworkers. “I would hope that if the people raise enough stink, the politicians will wake up and change something.” Lima Mayor David Berger and the Allen County commissioners have repeatedly attempted to work with Hart & Cooley, the parent company of Milcor, but so far to no avail. Hart & Cooley, based in Michigan, was bought by Tomkins LLC, a British company, about six years ago. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=19682
November 27, 200519 yr From the 11/21/05 Lima News: Crowd gathers to rally Milcor support By BART MILLS 11/21/2005 [email protected] LIMA — More than 200 people gathered inside the Lima UAW Hall Sunday afternoon, all hoping to send a message to legislators and the owners of Milcor Register. And that message: the fight is on. Members of Ironworkers union Local 778 — the union representing Milcor’s more than 280 employees — rallied with family, supporters and local leaders Sunday, pushing to build support for their effort to fight the planned closing of the plant by owners Hart & Cooley. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=19795
December 16, 200519 yr The deal's probably dead. From the 12/16/05 Toledo Blade: Refiner drops $2 billion plan for Lima site By JULIE M. McKINNON BLADE BUSINESS WRITER LIMA, Ohio - Valero Energy Corp. rejected a proposal to work with a Canadian supplier of heavy sour crude oil at its newly acquired refinery here, deciding a proposed $2 billion project is too costly, the companies announced yesterday. The move, discussed with EnCana Corp., a huge Canadian firm, would have added 100 jobs at the plant. Still, Valero plans to invest more than $400 million on expansions and upgrades at its 400-employee Lima refinery over five years. More expansion possibilities are being considered, said Mary Rose Brown, a spokesman for North America's largest refiner. Despite the dropped proposal to convert the plant for processing of sour crude oil instead of the more expensive sweet crude, the outlook for the Allen County refinery seemed positive. "We're still exploring our options for Lima," Ms. Brown said. "We are just not going to do this particular project. We are going to do other projects." FULL ARTICLE: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051216/BUSINESS03/512160335/-1/BUSINESS From the 12/21/05 Lima News: Valero CEO: Lima part of company profitability LIMA — One of his last few acts as chief executive officer of the largest oil refining company in the nation was to pass out food Tuesday to refinery employees. And while the 400 employees of the Lima Valero Refinery ate, Bill Greehey told them they come before the shareholders. “Other companies talk about putting employees first, but what happens when things get strained a little bit? They have layoffs. We have never had a layoff in the history of our company,” Greehey said. Greehey, who will be stepping down as chief executive officer but remaining chairman of the board, said taking care of the employees was one of the reasons the company rebounded so fast from the two Gulf Coast hurricanes. FULL ARTICLE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=20719
December 18, 200519 yr From the 12/13/05 Lima News: Milcor workers consider severance package By JIM SABIN 12/13/2005 [email protected] LIMA — Workers at Lima’s Milcor plant took a vote on a severance package Monday, signaling a possible end to the fight to keep the plant open. However, the results of the vote weren’t disclosed Monday as members of the plant’s union consulted with attorneys. Ironworkers union Local 778 president Clayton Hadden declined comment on the vote or the package, and company officials could not be reached for comment Monday evening. The plant was purchased by Tomkins LLC-affiliate Hart & Cooley in January, and the company announced that Milcor would close this spring. The announcement triggered a call for an antitrust investigation by city and county leaders and prompted the union to at least consider filing an unfair labor practice charge, because the company showed no interest in finding a way to keep the plant open. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=20452
December 22, 200519 yr From the 12/23/05 Lima News: Local officials dispute AP findings By JIM SABIN 12/23/2005 [email protected] LIMA — Mike Edmiston knows a thing or two about drawing conclusions. Edmiston, a chemistry and physics professor at Bluffton University, sat with a stack of facts in front of him, detailing the amounts of various chemicals detected in the air last year. But his conclusion is that Allen County’s air is safe, and certainly isn’t among the worst in the country. That’s not what The Associated Press reported last week, however. The AP, citing data it obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, used computer analysis to map out air pollution risks for the entire country. One Lima neighborhood was among the worst in the nation, and the entire county fared poorly. Edmiston, as a member of the Environmental Citizens Advisory Committee of the Allen County Health Department and as a scientist, just doesn’t see why. “The data that they’re using is 1996, it appears. It’s not real data, it’s modeled data,” he said. “There’s more going on here than this reporter knows about.” MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=20785
January 15, 200619 yr From the 1/8/06 Lima News: Milcor employees seek financial answers By GREG SOWINSKI 01/08/2006 [email protected] LIMA — Larry Spees has worked at Milcor for 26 years and could just about retire when the plant closes later this year. But at 56, he’s not ready and wants to find another job. While Spees hunts for another job, hopefully finding one before Milcor closes, he worries about his financial future. He wonders what he should do with retirement savings such as his 401K. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=21270
January 18, 200619 yr From the 1/12/06 Lima News: Lima businesses moving around By RONALD LEDERMAN Jr. 419-993-2078 01/12/2006 [email protected] LIMA — St. Rita’s Medical Center is at the center of a domino effect of business relocations in the city. When it’s finished, four service providers and retailers will have new locations. St. Rita’s last month paid $550,000 for the former office furniture store at 959 W. North St., records in the Allen County Recorder’s and Auditor’s offices show. The business that had been there was one of three adjacent to the west end of St. Rita’s new parking lot and entrance off Charles Street. St. Rita’s recent acquisitions have driven up the cost of property around its campus, Facilities Director Ron Connovich said. Property prices should return to normal now that St. Rita’s is finished acquiring property, he said. Since 1989, St. Rita’s expansions have included four medical office buildings. A $130 million expansion that began in November 2004 will add a nine-story patient tower. Full story at http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=21391
February 4, 200619 yr From the 1/28/06 Lima News: Tax authority may ask for Milcor refund By TIM RAUSCH 01/28/2006 [email protected] COLUMBUS — Milcor’s owners may be asked to repay the state all or a portion of a tax credit the company received if it is closed down. Members of the Ohio Tax Credit Authority were told Friday of Milcor’s impending closure. Officials with Milcor’s parent company, Michigan-based Hart & Cooley, said the Lima factory is being closed as part of a consolidation at other facilities. Lima Mayor David Berger said Hart & Cooley officials last year informed him that there was a potential buyer found for the property, not the business. Berger said his opinion is that a retail development might be the eventual occupant of the Milcor building. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=21975
February 7, 200619 yr I have no pics of this area. Neither does UO or any of the Lima threads posted on this forum. If you have any, please post! From the 1/30/06 Lima News: Bringing back Kibby Corners By JIM SABIN 01/30/2006 [email protected] LIMA — To look at Kibby Corners today, it’s hard to imagine it being the bustling center of commerce it once was. City officials said they hope to make it so again, one corner at a time. First up is the southwest corner of Kibby and Main streets, the site of the former Majestic Theater, which the city tore down last year. “Given that it was having a detrimental effect on the entire neighborhood, we went about securing the funds to clean the site and demolish it,” Public Works Director Howard Elstro said. That money, some $84,000 through the state’s Clean Ohio Fund, included a study of the soil under the theater to make sure it is safe. Full story at http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=22028
February 7, 200619 yr While I certainly hope they can bring back Kibby Corners, it definitely has a long way to go. The building have become pretty run down and some have been demolished just recently, as the article mentions. I certainly wish them much luck, but am not that hopeful.
February 7, 200619 yr Maybe a mile or so south of downtown...at the corner of South Main and Kibby Streets....near St. John's Catholic Church.
February 26, 200619 yr From the 2/18/06 Lima News: FTC drops Milcor probe By JIM SABIN 02/18/2006 LIMA — A federal agency has closed a preliminary investigation into the closure of Milcor, determining that there’s no reason to believe the company broke anti-trust laws. The Federal Trade Commission opened the investigation at the request of U.S. Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Findlay. Lima Mayor David Berger, who urged Oxley to push for an investigation, said Friday that he had learned of the commission’s decision to drop the matter. “Apparently, the FTC has determined that there is no reason to believe that Hart & Cooley, which purchased Milcor/Lima Register in early 2005, has broken anti-trust laws in their ownership and management of the company,” Berger stated in a news release. “It is hard for me to believe that a company like Hart & Cooley should be able to legally assemble a massive market share by purchasing and shutting down competing operations. There is something vicious and immoral and anti-American about those tactics.” MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=22824
March 1, 200619 yr From the 2/28/06 Lima News: Zoning decision for P&G delayed By HEATHER RUTZ 02/28/2006 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Residents will have to wait a week to hear Zoning Commission’s recommendation on a request from Procter & Gamble to rezone 200 acres for a private road. The commission is waiting on a recommendation from Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission; that recommendation normally comes before Zoning Commission, but RPC won’t take up the request until today. Zoning Commission will meet an hour before the trustees’ meet March 7. Trustees have the final say on zoning issues. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=23004
March 2, 200619 yr Good lord...will people quit there bitching? 81% of voters in the township approved P&G's expansion plan. Move on.
March 16, 200619 yr From the 3/11/06 Lima News: PHOTO: Mike Ward, packer/operator at Milcor, waves as he walks to his car for the last time Friday during a shift change. Ward was among a number of employees leaving the plant on his last day. (Lima News photo by TY WRIGHT) Milcor employees face last day By JIM SABIN and GREG SOWINSKI 03/11/2006 LIMA — For nearly 170 employees at Milcor on Friday, working their last day was hard enough. But for some, there was more bitterness than melancholy. People bristled over the presence of Lima police officers, summoned there by the company to make sure everything went smoothly. Others were upset that they couldn’t have one last chat with co-workers. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=23487
March 23, 200619 yr From the 3/21/06 Lima News: MORE PHOTOS Final beam crowns hospital By JIM SABIN 419-993-2091 03/21/2006 [email protected] LIMA — Steve Walters stood high atop the crane next to St. Rita’s Medical Center, looking down on the final beam and a crowd of onlookers waiting to see it placed. “Gentlemen, let her fly,” Walters, chairman of the St. Rita’s Development Council, said, his voice booming through a sound system on the ground. Just minutes later, the 4,500-pound beam, bearing a St. Rita’s sign, two evergreen trees for good luck and about 2,000 signatures, came to rest on its final perch on the west side of the patient tower under construction. “This is clearly a milestone. It’s hard to believe a year ago we were breaking ground,” said St. Rita’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Reber. Work has already begun laying brick for the outer walls. The brick and windows will be completed next, and the intricate infrastructure of the interior will follow, Reber said. The new building is scheduled to open in January 2008. Full story at http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=23784
April 18, 200619 yr From the 3/22/06 Lima News: Coming: A new look for American Mall By TIM RAUSCH 419-993-2097 03/22/2006 [email protected] LIMA — The American Mall is getting a makeover, though what it will look like afterward is uncertain. Officials with the Cafaro Co., the Youngstown-based retail developer that owns the 41-year-old mall, announced they are in the early stages of drafting plans to redevelop the shopping center. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=23830
April 18, 200619 yr From the 3/23/06 Lima News: American Mall likely to adopt plaza concept By TIM RAUSCH 419-993-2097 03/23/2006 [email protected] LIMA — The owners of the American Mall think there is enough space there to pull off its property redevelopment, which could turn the mall into a new-age plaza and three to four accompanying restaurants. “There is no property acquisition necessary based on our present plans,” said Anthony Cafaro Jr., vice president of Cafaro Co., despite the mall’s proximity to the expanded Eastown Road. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=23870
April 27, 200619 yr Fields, artificial turf coming to Lima Senior Lima News, 4/26/06 If all goes well, Lima Senior football players could be playing on artificial turf next season and most all of the school’s athletes playing at the high school site in the next couple of years. Lima school board members approved Tuesday beginning the bid process for turf at Lima Stadium and for establishing multiple fields on land owned by the district surrounding Lima Senior. “We want to get all of our students practicing and playing near Lima Senior,” Athletic Director Jim Offenbaker said. Plans are for a practice football field, two practice soccer fields, one lighted baseball diamond and three softball fields. A building will also be built to house the football program because there is not enough current space in the locker rooms. Offenbaker said he cannot estimate the cost of the total project, but said there will likely be fundraising efforts in the future. The district acquired $800,000 when it sold Simmons Field to the city of Lima.
April 28, 200619 yr Clinic set to expand Lima News, 4/28/06 The waiting room tells you everything you need to know about Allen County Health Partners. Sitting patiently amidst the clutter of humble furniture and aging magazines are mothers, grandfathers, children and teens, all seeking help they otherwise couldn’t afford or get to. “This is a godsend here. A lot of people don’t have cars, they can’t get to a doctor. They can walk here,” said Trisha Williamson as she waited with her 4-year-old daughter at the south Lima center. Almost 20,000 patients are expected at the center this year, sporting a laundry list of viruses, injuries, dental needs or pains they’re just tired of dealing with. By next year, coordinators said they hope that number will balloon to 30,000 or more. But for that to happen, they’re going to need more space. “Right now the need is greater than the space we have,” said Jolene Joseph, the center’s development director. “We have maximized the current space and gone beyond that.”
May 4, 200619 yr From the 4/29/06 Lima News: Few remain in Milcor By TIM RAUSCH 04/29/2006 LIMA — Brett Lewis ended his 20-year career with Milcor on Friday, lamenting the waste of a good facility as well as $500,000 of register parts that he helped place into Dumpsters. “These are some miserable, dirty people we’re dealing with here,” Lewis said of Hart & Cooley, the company that bought Milcor in 2005 and then announced it was shutting down the Lima plant nine months later. March 10 was the final production date. Out of 245 workers at the plant, there were 16 remaining Friday. Lewis said there will only be three employees left now to do “odds and ends on the inside.” Lewis said at one time there was $500,000 of “work in progress” sitting on the floor. A lot of it has been shipped away as scrap metal. “This whole hopper is full of product,” Lewis said, pointing at the hopper in the rear of Mil-cor. “That’s good product that they consider scrap now. The product line that makes those registers right there is one of the ones they sent to Mexico.” MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=25168
May 8, 200619 yr Allen East building project progressing Lima News, 5/5/06 As Michael Richards walks through what will be the new Allen East School in about a year, he is not always exactly sure where he’s at. But then there are places that are so far along in construction that even a first-timer knows what the space will eventually be used for. The gymnasium and auditorium/cafeteria are a few examples. “It’s exciting when we come out here and start to see things develop as to, this is what this is going to be, and this is what that is going to be. It’s neat,” the superintendent said Thursday during an update and tour held for the media. Expected to be ready for pupils to start the 2007-08 school year, officials say the building project is on schedule and within budget.
May 11, 200619 yr From the 5/5/06 Lima News: P&G moving dirt, hiring for new warehouse By HEATHER RUTZ 05/05/2006 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Nine new employees at Procter & Gamble started work Monday, training for the company’s warehouse and distribution center, now under construction. The movement comes as Bath schools and Bath Township trustees have approved an enterprise zone agreement for the project, giving the company a 50 percent abatement on real estate taxes for 15 years. The Allen County commissioners are expected to give final approval next week. The company will eventually employ 50 full-time new employees at the new facility and at least 200 full-time contracted employees provided by a third party, according to the enterprise zone agreement. Those new jobs will add $8 million in new payroll. P&G plans a $100 million investment for the 1.2 million-square-foot facility. Construction crews have begun dirt work at the site, about a mile east of the company’s plant on Reservoir Road. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=25421
May 11, 200619 yr From the 5/9/06 Lima News: New tower ahead of schedule By TIM RAUSCH 05/09/2006 [email protected] LIMA — Allen County’s largest employer should be using its new patient tower six months earlier than expected. St. Rita’s Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Jim Reber told the Lima Rotary Club Monday that the $130 million expansion project in on budget and ahead of schedule. “Since everything has been going well, except for a little bit of weather in December, we plan to open the lobby and the lower level in June 2007,” Reber said. The original date to move into the nine-story tower was January 2008. Full story at http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=25533
May 17, 200619 yr From the 5/17/06 Lima News: P&G spends $2.7 million for private road land By HEATHER RUTZ 05/17/2006 [email protected] BATH TOWNSHIP — Procter & Gamble has paid more than $2.7 million for land for the company’s private road connecting the plant to a new distribution center. P&G purchased six parcels north of Reservoir Road and west of Thayer Road totaling more than 150 acres. The company will build the access road while it builds its warehouse and distribution center to the east, between Thayer and Cool roads, company spokesman Phil Gordon said. http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=25799
May 24, 200619 yr From the 5/24/06 Lima News: PHOTO: Brandon Steffen of Charleston Auctions of Fort Wayne, Ind., speaks into a microphone while auctioning off office cabinets and furniture Tuesday morning at Milcor. (Lima News photo by CRAIG OROSZ) Milcor remnants picked clean By JIM SABIN 05/24/2006 [email protected] LIMA — Everett Frazier looked around the building he worked in for 22 years with more than a little sadness. The remaining contents of Milcor were being auctioned off, and Frazier said he came to look at the wares. But that certainly wasn’t all; it was also a chance to see a few people again. “I just wanted to check out the building, and I was interested in a desk,” he began. “I wanted to see some of the people that I worked with.” Frazier was one of the last workers out of the building when it closed earlier this month, and so was there as equipment was being shut down and packed up. Most of the heavy equipment was shipped out, leaving only office furniture and miscellaneous supplies scattered around the building. “There were times you’d move something and just look over the shop … it would bring tears to your eyes,” he said. MORE: http://www.limaohio.com/story.php?IDnum=25997
June 1, 200619 yr Group’s donation to help with school building project Lima News, 5/24/06 The Mom and Dad’s Club at Allen East schools wanted its fundraising efforts to impact as many pupils as possible. And the group certainly will with $40,000 going toward helping with construction costs of a new concession stand, restrooms and locker rooms at the district’s new building being constructed. “By doing this, we will, in our feelings, hit the most kids,” club President Tom King said. “We’ll hit the band, football, baseball, softball, track, soccer. It is the biggest impact we can do right now.” King presented a check to the school board at its Tuesday meeting.
June 6, 200619 yr Surgery center expansion done, in use Lima News, 6/5/06 The Institute for Orthopaedic Surgery’s $3 million expansion is done. Kathy Meihls, the institute’s director of quality and the medical staff, said the new nine outpatients beds are already in use. The surgery center, which is the hospital side of the Orthopaedic Institute of Ohio near Interstate 75, added the beds for overnight stays to accommodate a steady increase in patients. Also added was office space, a new pre-operation area and lobby, Meihls said. It took 15 months to complete the addition.
June 8, 200619 yr County to renovate Spring Street building Lima News, 5/31/06 A downtown Lima building will get a facelift and a new tenant within the next year. The 80-year-old building at 123 W. Spring Street has housed a hardware store and plenty of others, but it will soon play host to the Allen County Children Services Department. Agency executive director Scott Ferris said the building’s facing will be restored to its original condition, though the entrances will be changed. “It’s basically a big shell, so we need to go in and do everything,” Ferris said. The county already owns the building and considered tearing it down and replacing it, but that would have cost more, Ferris said. As it is, the renovation will cost $2.8 million, lower than originally estimated, and take about six months to complete. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
June 10, 200619 yr Credit union opens new HQ Wednesday Lima News, 6/6/06 Superior Federal Credit Union is cutting the ribbon on its new bank branch Wednesday. The $2.2 million building at 4230 Elida Road will also serve as the corporate headquarters. Superior will hold an open house for the public to view the building from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
June 12, 200619 yr Rite Aid planning four new Lima stores Lima News, 6/7/06 Rita Aid is relocating three of its Lima stores and plans to build a new one at the corner of Eastown Road and Elm Street. Two of the new stores are under construction and are expected to open in early 2007. All the new stores will resemble Rite Aid’s location on Bellefontaine Avenue, which opened in November. “We started our new development plan two years ago. We said we were going to do a number of relocations and new stores in existing markets. Lima was one of those on the top of the list. We’re doing a lot of projects in Lima. It is a great market for us,” said corporate spokeswoman Jody Cook.
June 15, 200618 yr Allen County Museum begins work on $10 million renovation Toledo Blade, 6/14/06 The Allen County Museum plans to break ground today on the first phase of an expansion and renovation project that could top $10 million before it's completed. Museum Director Patricia Smith said more than $4.2 million has been raised so far - enough for the museum to get moving on the first phase of the project, which has been discussed since 2000. The first part of the project will include 15,000 square feet of new and renovated space. The museum plans to build a children's discovery center, a new entrance on the north side of the museum, and a gift shop and restrooms on the first floor. On the museum's lower level, the museum will create a climate-controlled storage area for what will be known as the John H. Keller Railroad Archives, a repository of train artifacts and railroad records. The second phase of the project is to involve the creation of a glass-front exhibit hall to display the museum's Shay locomotive as well as a 3,000 to 4,000-square-foot gallery for traveling exhibits. Ms. Smith said the museum was awarded a grant of nearly $1 million through the Ohio Department of Transportation for that part of the project because of its focus on transportation history.
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