Demolition crews are starting to dismantle the 107-year-old FirstEnergy Brooklyn Service Center on Ridge Road in Cleveland. It was constructed by FirstEnergy predecessor Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. (NEOtrans). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
New FirstEnergy center opens next door
A large, familiar landmark that has stood along Ridge Road at the south end of Cleveland’s Stockyards neighborhood since 1919 won’t be standing much longer.
Demolition crews have already cordoned off the site of FirstEnergy’s vacated Brooklyn Service Center, 3601 Ridge Rd., and begun cleaning and dismantling it so that heavy-duty equipment can safely take down the main, 84,000-square-foot structure.
This follows the city in May granting a certificate of occupancy to FirstEnergy for it to use the center’s modern replacement. A new, $22.1 million service center was built over the past year at the back of the electric utility’s 32-acre Ridge Road property.
Demolition of the historic brick-and-steel service center is costing $6 million, according to a permit approved by the city’s Building Department last month.
Originally built by Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. in 1919, the Brooklyn Service Center is being gutted off all hazardous materials before the structure is leveled (NEOtrans).
Overseeing the demolition work is Chieftain Trucking & Excavation Inc., based nearby on Valley Road in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood.
The service center is a hub for electrical line repair and construction crews, equipment and materials and hosts a line worker training center. The original facilities were constructed here by FirstEnergy predecessor Cleveland Electric Illuminating (CEI) Co.
CEI was founded in 1892 as the Cleveland General Electric Co. by Charles F. Brush who installed the first electric streetlight in the United States on Cleveland’s Public Square in 1879.
FirstEnergy in 2024 began work on its new Brooklyn Service Center at the southeast corner of the property, away from Ridge. Constructing the new, 105,000-square-foot facility was Ruhlin Company of Sharon Center in suburban Akron.
FirstEnergy’s new $22.1 million Brooklyn Service Center stands at the northeast corner of their Ridge Road yard (Brookpark Design Builders).
Design, engineering, fabrication and installation of the structure’s Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) was done by Brookpark Design Builders of North Royalton.
“This project included the complete installation of concealed fastener metal wall panels across all exterior building surfaces, ensuring both durability and aesthetic appeal,” company officials noted on their Web site.
“The interior of the PEMB areas are equipped with bird netting integrated into the ceiling systems, providing a safe and effective solution for maintaining the space,” they added.
The working side of FirstEnergy’s new Brooklyn Service Center that opened earlier this year (Brookpark Design Builders).
Another structure on the site, a metal-clad storage warehouse measuring nearly 50,000 square feet, was constructed by FirstEnergy in 2012 at the northeast corner of the site.
Two make way for the most recent construction, three small structures of about 2,000 square feet each were razed in late 2025 by the Cavanaugh Building Corp. of Akron, according to city records.
NEOtrans reached out to FirstEnergy for comment and more information about the demolition work but has not heard back from them prior to publication of this article.
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