ASHLAND — Ashland Area Economic Development has been awarded $1 million in grant funding to propel two remediation projects and one assessment initiative.
The award was announced May 14 by the Ohio Department of Development as part of $61 million in brownfield grants to help communities in 75 counties across the state clean up contaminated properties.
Among the trio of projects awarded grant funding was the remediation and cleanup of 118 W. Main St. in downtown Ashland, better known as the Frontier building.
Nearly $772,000 of the $1 million in state funding will be used to remove asbestos, lead-based paint, mold and other hazardous materials from the long-vacant, 15,000 square-foot historic downtown building, according to ODOD’s announcement.
“Cleanup activities will prepare the structure for full interior demolition and redevelopment into a mixed-use building with a restaurant and office space,” the state said in announcing the award.
“The project is expected to create 90 new jobs.”
Cameo Carey, director of Ashland Area Economic Development, said Thursday that crews could be in the West Main Street building as early as Monday to begin asbestos removal.
The building has been vacant for nearly three decades. This brownfield award was crucial to move the project forward, Carey said.
In September 2024, Ashland City Council approved the $25,000 sale of the building to Dr. Matthew Bernhard, orthopedic surgeon for OhioHealth, and his son, Dr. Zach Bernhard — who originally planned to transform the space into a facility to promote and train area athletes, and a retail store selling apparel sporting the HSLD brand he founded.
“But the floor plan and its bones, it’s just not big enough for what we want to do,” Zach Bernhard said in August 2025 during HSLD’s inaugural golf outing.
At that same event, he said he hopes the building moves in a “restaurant direction.”
“It’ll be very cool … it should be a flagship for downtown Ashland,” Zach Bernhard said at the 2025 golf outing.
“Over the past several years we have seen nearly every building in our vibrant downtown receive either a facelift or a significant remodel and this particular grant will help us finally breathe new life into one of the most prominent historic buildings on our Main Street,” Mayor Matt Miller said in a May 22 press release through ODOD.
“Due to the incredibly high costs of remodeling such an old and dilapidated building, the developer leading the project and I truly do not believe we can redevelop this building without state funds,” Miller said.
“The remaining grants funds will allow us to redevelop a vacant lot in the center of our
downtown, enabling us to construct our new public transit system headquarters.”
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$125,000 awarded for new public transit HQ
The other projects receiving brownfield grants include the Ashland Transit Facility and East Main Street projects, which combined received $228,125.
Of that amount, $125,000 is earmarked for the long-awaited project to construct a new public transit facility in Ashland.
The city’s public transit currently operates out of Ashland’s Municipal Building and stores its fleet within the public parking lot at the 206 Claremont Ave. property.
Brownfield funds will be used to install a passive vapor mitigation system to address vapor impacts identified during a Phase II environmental assessment, according to ODOD’s announcement.
This work will help prepare the site for construction of a new 14,500 square-foot transit operations and maintenance facility, which will “enhance regional mobility and provide safer, more efficient transit services for residents,” the state said in announcing the award.
In March, Ashland lawmakers approved a $2.4 million contract with Simonson Construction Services for the design and construction of Ashland Public Transit’s new headquarters.
The facility will be constructed on city-owned property on the corner of Third and Union streets. Work on the project is estimated to begin this spring and conclude sometime in 2027.
Underground storage tanks discovered during culvert replacement
The remaining $103,125 of the $1 million awarded in brownfield grants will be used to complete BUSTR-regulated assessment activities following the discovery of three orphan underground storage tanks that caused petroleum-impacted soils, according to ODOD’s announcement.
Carey said the underground tanks were discovered during a culvert replacement along Main Street near Dairy Queen — a project that began in 2021.
“Evidently, there was a fuel station on the site in the 1940’s,” Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer, said in August 2025.
Assessment work will “define remaining impacts and support steps toward No Further Action status,” the state said in announcing the award.
Ashland acquired four private properties that were built on top or beside the failing culvert in 2021 for $190,000. Another adjacent property was donated to the city. All those buildings were demolished and replaced with a temporary gravel lot.
Carey said there are currently no plans for the property, but achieving No Further Action status — which essentially means the site has been cleaned up and no further remediation is required for the said contaminants — is important for the city to accomplish and will “put a bow on the project.”
