Crews started tearing down the long-unfinished church along Park Avenue West in Ontario, Ohio this week, closing out a saga that stretched back more than two decades. The skeletal structure at 1943 Park Avenue West had sat vacant and exposed to the elements since construction stalled in the mid-2000s, and neighbors who drove past it for years are finally watching it disappear.
Ron Speck began tearing down the building on Thursday, according to News 5 Cleveland, which reported that longtime resident Robert Brook has lived on Park Avenue West for about 40 years and watched the property go from woods and swamp to a half-built shell. Ontario Mayor Josh Bradley told the station that legal or financial issues during construction prevented the building from ever being completed, and that the site had become one of the most complained-about properties in the city. Bradley noted it was the second-most called-about property in Ontario due to citizen complaints, according to a separate report from Richland Source.
A Church Project That Broke Ground in 1997 and Never Finished
Grace Brethren Church, described by News 5 Cleveland as a well-known congregation in Mansfield, planned to move to Ontario after outgrowing its Mansfield location. The project broke ground in 1997, with the planned building designed to measure 45,000 square feet and include a gymnasium, a soccer field, and office space, per the station's reporting. Richland Source's account of the same structure put the stalled project at roughly 43,000 square feet and about 60 percent complete when work stopped, after two decades of weather exposure left visible roof breaches and other structural deterioration.
The construction halt traces back to a legal dispute: contractor Henry Gassaway sued Grace Brethren Church in May 2008 over unpaid construction expenses, but a Richland County Common Pleas Court magistrate ruled against him because the congregation had never voted to approve the project's costs, according to the same outlet's earlier reporting. Grace Brethren Church originally purchased the 17-acre site in 1992 as its congregation grew, then spent nearly 15 years trying to sell the unfinished property after the court ruling.
Local Businessman Buys the Site, Rezoning Opens the Door
Local businessman and philanthropist Dan Niss purchased the 17-acre property in May 2023, finally ending its long stint on the market. Mayor Bradley credited Niss for investing in and taking action on the site, and said the community is excited to see the unfinished church come down, per News 5 Cleveland's report. Ontario City Council had already laid the groundwork a year earlier, unanimously voting in August 2023 to rezone 12 parcels along Park Avenue West, including the church site, from Office Service to Business — a move that allows for potential retail, restaurant, or mixed-use redevelopment. The rezone also opened the door to further redevelopment under Ontario's business district rules.
Before settling on demolition, Niss considered technology-driven office space for the site. The site's future use remained unclear as demolition approached. Robert Brook told News 5 Cleveland he has his own hopes for what replaces the building, saying he wants an OhioHealth facility on the property. For now, the future use of the 17-acre parcel remains unclear, and Niss is expected to benefit Ontario and the surrounding community through whatever the site eventually becomes.
Part of a Wider Pattern of Corridor Redevelopment
The teardown fits into a broader pattern of blight-focused investment by Dan and Brenda Niss across Richland County. The couple purchased the decaying former West Park Shopping Center in Mansfield in December 2025, another Park Avenue West-area property that had deteriorated for more than a decade under out-of-state ownership. According to Governor Mike DeWine, Ohio announced $33.1 million in demolition and site-revitalization grants on 20 September 2024 to demolish 341 vacant, dilapidated buildings in five areas, placing the Ontario teardown within a broader statewide effort to address deteriorating properties. The Ohio Department of Development says its Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program covers blighted, vacant or abandoned commercial and residential buildings on sites that are not brownfields, reflecting the type of property issue addressed by the Ontario demolition.
The Nisses have also supported other regional projects. With the church's demolition underway, residents like Brook are left watching a familiar landmark vanish while the city and its private benefactor figure out what rises in its place.
