With a Saturday deadline looming over the Bengals stadium deal, demolition crews started clearing the way for the $400.3 million stadium complex Thursday.
O'Rourke Construction Co. began tearing down a produce warehouse at Central Avenue and Mehring Way at 9 a.m.
Hamilton County Commission President Tom Neyer Jr. said the work started without a riverfront deal between Cincinnati and the county because the county is ''firmly convinced that the Cincinnati Bengals will play football on that site.''
To get the stadium built by August 2000, as the county's lease with the team requires, work had to start, he said.
The warehouse sits on part of the 24 acres of riverfront land the county bought from the Castellini Family Trust for $36 million. Environmental testing is being completed on other properties slated for demolition in the coming weeks.
