City wants to tear down IndyCar tire factory

IndyCar tires to get new home?

Akron wants “new ideas and new vision" for the aging, massive former Firestone headquarters and factory, including possibly relocating Bridgestone’s IndyCar race tire facility — and even tearing down the iconic building.

The city on Monday said it wants to find a new developer for the city-owned property at 1200 Firestone Parkway. The 750,000-square-foot building, now largely empty, is more than 100 years old.

The city said redevelopment of the site will serve as a catalyst for the Firestone Park area. It also raised the possibility that the building could be demolished.

“We mainly want to see some new ideas, new concepts come through," said James Hardy, chief of staff to Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan. “We just want to see opportunities for a broad array of developers to come in. … We wanted to open it up to new ideas and new vision."

As part of that, “we’re hoping to have a new facility for IndyCar tires," Hardy said. The city and Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas have been having discussions regarding the IndyCar manufacturing facility, he said.

“Our hope is we will have a new facility that will have IndyCar tires made in Akron," Hardy said.

A Bridgestone spokeswoman said she was unaware of the city’s proposal and could not comment Monday.

Developer David Marshall of Amerimar Realty in Philadelphia had options the last several years to buy the site and find new uses for it; the last option expired on March 31.

Marshall said he had not yet seen the city’s “request for qualifications" but said he may submit a new proposal. He said he had been searching for tenants for the property.

“It was not easy to market. I won’t say it was impossible," Marshall said. He also said he was unable to get a commitment out of Bridgestone to keep IndyCar production at the site. Race tire production takes up about 100,000 square feet inside. Ohio.com