It has a history that dates back to the early 1940s and was the largest union plant in the U.S. by in 1965.

Royal China brought in $16 million for their custom pieces. But in 1970, the dinnerware plant burned to the ground.

"Royal China was the support of Sebring at one time and employed everybody in Sebring," said Mike Conny, President and owner of MAC Trailer Manufacturing.

The business was rebuilt, however, to employ 700 people, but then burned another 3 times. Royal China finally shut their doors for good, more than a decade ago.

The debris from the fires was never properly removed, so led contaminants seeped into the soil and are still there today.

Officials confirm these contaminants are not harmful for the residents of the village.

After seeing all the destruction for himself over the years, Conny decided to purchase the land and is remediating it to help his community.

"I just wanted to give back to the city, I wanted to give back to the people that live in this city, Sebring's been beat up for a lot of years," Conny said.

Conny also says clean up is going to take months, but a $1.9 million dollar state grant will help with the costs.

"We're gonna expect the work to pretty much start immediately with soil sampling, work throughout the entire summer," said State Senator Mike Rulli. "Then by the end of the year, beginning of next year, we'll have to have the EPA come and sign off on it," he said.

When the testing wraps up, more soil can be laid.

"This is about taking back Ohio," said Senator Rulli. "We remove all the contaminated soil and replace it with fresh top soil and so it's ready to go and you can start building," he said.

Conny tells 21 News he'll be looking to bring hundreds of manufacturing jobs to the village.