TOLEDO, Ohio — The Rosemary Apartments, a decrepit and vacant north Toledo building with a tragic history, is set for demolition at 8:45 a.m. on Friday.
The approximately $350,000 project is expected to take "a number of months" according to Lucas County Land Bank President and CEO David Mann.
The partially-collapsed structure on the corner of North Detroit and Phillips avenues is one of over 1,000 structures in the city of Toledo slated for demolition after the land bank received a $9.8 million state grant to reduce Glass City blight.
The ugly building, with a rust-colored facade of broken windows surrounded by overgrown grass, has an even uglier history and has stood vacant for nearly two decades. It was officially announced for demolition by city leaders on July 26, 2022, a day that would have been the 23rd birthday of Joshua Sorrell, who fell five stories to his death in 2016 after going into the building with a group of friends.
Sorrell's family, who has been advocating for the demolition for over six years and will be present at the demolition alongside local leaders, is invited to give the signal to start the wrecking work at roughly 9 a.m., Mann said in a press release.
Once the building that serves as a source of pain for the Sorrells and a giant tombstone for their 16-year-old son is reduced to rubble, one less eyesore will exist in the Glass City.
Joshua's mother, Kerri, said a ghost story lured her son and his friends into the building, which was unsecured, allowing the group to easily walk in.
"And they were exploring, doing things kids like to do," a Toledo police spokesperson told WTOL 11 in 2021. "A couple of the kids were going up ahead of the group and jumping out of rooms, trying to scare the kids that were behind them and one of the kids took a fatal turn and fell down the elevator shaft, five stories to his death."
In July 2022, the city said nothing is planned to be constructed on the grounds of the Rosemary Apartments, as it's a flood plain to the Ottawa River.
The razing of blighted properties in Toledo, which the city said will start in north Toledo and move clockwise throughout the city over the next two to three years, will open up new opportunities for the Glass City, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz told WTOL 11 in December 2022.
"Maybe that opportunity is as simple as the neighbor next door extending his or her yard and planting more flowers or maybe the community will come together in a more coordinated way and create a little park, a little pocket park," Kapszukiewicz said.
Because demolition work, which will be done by Lucas County demolition contractor Klumm Bros., is dangerous, anyone who wishes to watch is asked to assemble on the other side of the street at the I-75 Business Center at 300 Phillips Ave.
