South of the Square Collision is holding an open house July 28th from 12-7 p.m. at its new second facility in North Ridgeville, Ohio.

At 1 p.m., there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor David Gillock and Sen. Gayle Manning of North Ridgeville. The K-9 unit and representatives from the local fire and police departments will be on hand to provide demonstrations of vehicle extractions. There will also be food, a DJ and door prizes at the open house.

The move was due to an Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) road-widening project, which, according to General Manager Bob Winters, consumed a fair amount of the original facility’s frontage and would cause a major disruption to their ability to service their customers.

“It takes us out of a three-year construction zone and into a developing part of the community,” said Winters. “With the additional square footage, it allows for growth and the addition of employees.”

The new shop will also allow for South of the Square Collision to bring all of its facility operations under one roof, allowing for a better process flow.

But the move was not without its difficulties. It took Owner Rick Stickland many man-hours to renovate the second facility, which stands about two miles west of the original one in Medina, Ohio. The move also involved working with ODOT for relocation expenses, finding the right building at the right price at the right location and coordinating the move so there was no downtime.

“Getting the state to come to terms with the fact that the portion of the property they were taking for the road-widening project effectively put us out of business at that location took months of legal fees and negotiation in order to come to an agreement that still did not cover all the expense of moving,” said Winters. “There was a significant amount of out-of-pocket costs that was not expected.”