NORTH LIMA, Ohio – An eyesore that has sat vacant along state Route 7 for more than a decade is coming down.
Demolition work has begun on the former Penn-Ohio Truck Plaza site at 10650 Market St., more than 10 years after the operation shut down. Workers were busy Thursday morning dismantling the rear of a building that once housed a restaurant and convenience store.
The building and grounds have since fallen into disrepair. Tall weeds consume the parking lot; the canopies that once covered old fuel tanks are rusted; and vulgar graffiti is noticeable along the crumbling brick structure.
Last year, Beaver Township authorities condemned the property, township zoning inspector Lindy Mitchell said. Its owner, Lucky Enterprises of Ohio LLC, has now moved forward on razing the dilapidated building and other structures.
Several parties over the past five years have expressed interest in acquiring the site, but none of those plans materialized. Mitchell said she is not aware of any party at this time that has intentions of redeveloping the property.
While the demolition of the Penn-Ohio site is welcome for the township, it does leave some longtime business owners with a sense of nostalgia.
“Knocking down the old Penn-Ohio truck stop fills me with mixed emotions,” said Murray Davis, owner of the Davis Motel, which his family has owned since the early 1960s. “It’s the passing of an era when truckers had more leisure to take a break for a good hot meal served by a friendly waitress.”
Still, razing the site represents a new era for North Lima, Davis said.
“As I near retirement, my overall emotion is that I’m grateful for all the memories and I am thrilled that the renaissance in North Lima is happening,” he said.
Last year, a new Love’s Travel Stops & Country Store opened directly across Market Street from the former Penn-Ohio site. Other new developments include interest from Southern Tire Mart, a tire and road assistance company with 233 locations nationwide, to construct a new service center behind the Pilot truck plaza.
Mitchell said Tire Mart’s plans have changed since it was first awarded a conditional use permit in February 2024. The company now intends to construct a larger facility than the 12,750-square-foot center it initially planned.
“They’ll have to come before the [zoning] board for that,” she said.
This section of Beaver Township has drawn interest from investors and developers because of its proximity to the Interstate 76 and Market Street interchange.
In early 2024, for example, Saia Motor Freight Line LLC purchased the shuttered USF Holland truck terminal at 10855 Market St. for $15.5 million.
Other potential opportunities for development include a former cabaret club, which was acquired by a local developer last year, though there are no signs yet of any new business at that location.