Demolition of vacant, blighted houses began Monday with a ceremony hosted by the Ohio Attorney General.

Mike DeWine joined Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker and other community leaders in front a burned-out and crumbling house at 102 Raymond Avenue to discuss how Richland County will use $741,000 from a national settlement with mortgage companies over predatory lending.

Ohio created a Demolition Grant Program with its $75-million share of the settlement.

Theaker says tearing down these eyesores over the coming year should help Mansfield grow and prosper.   

Participants donned hard hats and wielded sledge-hammers to start the demotion of 102 Raymond Avenue, then turned the project over to a piece of equipment more capable of leveling a house in a matter of minutes.