VERMILION COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — Vermilion County has launched an exciting new initiative: the Vermilion County Demolition Program, which kicked off on Tuesday.

This program is designed to support communities throughout Vermilion County by addressing blight and removing hazardous structures. Although approved by the county board a few months back, the program officially commenced operations on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the President of Vermilion Advantage provided insights into how this program operates.

“We’re just very excited about the launch of this program and there’s more to come,” said Vermilion Advantage President Mike Marron.

The Vermilion County Demolition Program is up and running and it’s aiming to get rid of blight in areas across the county.

“We now have a solution to help eliminate these issues, making our communities healthier, safer, and more visually appealing,” Marron said.

Marron said the initiative is being funded by the county board and overseen by Vermilion Advantage.

“We have $400,000 to basically match a community that is wanting to do some blight removal,” he said. “And so, we’ve had a lot of responses already.”

Marron also said it’s a partnership to shoulder the cost of removing blight. Once the county has control of a property, municipalities can ask for help if it’s considered to be a health or safety hazard.

“They can apply to us and say that we’re going to put, say, $5,000 towards the demolition of this property,” he said. “And we would ask for that number of dollars match from Vermilion Advantage to help with the demo of that property. So, we would match them dollar for dollar.”

This initiative has the end goal of empowering Vermilion County communities to reset the areas that need it.

“This has been an important initiative of the county board and of Vermilion Advantage trying to address the blight issue,” Marron said. “And this is just the opening round. We’re going to try to make as much impact as we can.”

Municipalities are applying for this program through the Vermilion Advantage website.