A planned $1M demolition is the latest move to boost Kettering Business Park

A coming demolition of one of the last pieces of Kettering Business Park’s military history is part of an effort to attract new businesses to the area.

The city will spend $1 million to take down a vacant 200,000-square-foot warehouse in early 2019. The 165-acre, 70-year-old facility was known as the Gentile Air Force Station before it became the Kettering Business Park in the late 1990s.

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City officials say they plan to attract more businesses to the park and will look to have commercial office development at the site located at 907 Forrer Blvd., which has 8.2 acres of land.

The Dayton Daily News previously reported that Kettering Health Network has started construction on a 17,000-square-foot operations command center in the business park. Officials with the health system said the planned $10 million center at 1050 Forrer Blvd. could launch this month and create 25 jobs.

John Weimer, vice president of emergency and trauma services for Kettering Health, said this summer that the facility could grow to 40,000 square feet and employ 300 when fully functional.

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“As Kettering Health Network continues to grow, we have created additional access points to our health care services. We want our patients to receive the best care in the most efficient manner possible,” Fred Manchur, CEO of Kettering Health, told the Dayton Daily News this summer.

Other improvements are underway. In July, a $675,000 project entered its final phase to install landscaping and signage at the business park.

Assistant City Manager Steve Bergstresser said the next and final phase of improvements includes new landscaping, clay pavers, lighted posts, benches and other hardscape features around the roundabout within the main entrance on Forrer Boulevard.

There will also be landscape mounds along Forrer between Wilmington Pike and the roundabout, a new marquee sign and wayfinding signs.

Mayor Don Patterson said the improvements will serve the business community that uses the park well.

“Continued reinvestment in the Kettering Business Park is critical to support the growing number of employers that call the business park home,” he said.

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