SHARON City: Promote river as an attraction
River artwork, gondola boat rides and a floating dock are being considered.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- The Shenango River has flowed through downtown Sharon ever since the first settlers built along its banks, but the city has never used the attraction of a waterway to its advantage.
That may change under a Downtown Revitalization Plan the city wants to put together.
Mayor Robert T. Price asked city council at a workshop Thursday to seek requests for proposals for consulting services for the plan.
The state has come up with a $75,000 grant for the study, he said.
Funds spent: One-third of that money has been spent to cover the services of Pittsburgh architect Ross Bianco, who visited Sharon recently and gave the city ideas for making the river more attractive, Price said.
Businessman James E. Winner Jr. fronted that $25,000 to pay Bianco. Winner will be reimbursed from the grant, the mayor said.
Price said the city is looking at possibilities such as artwork along the river, painting of murals on the concrete walls lining the Shenango between Silver and State streets, gondolas for river rides and a floating dock.
City council is also expected to approve a lease agreement with D & amp;L Energy of Youngstown for the drilling of a gas well behind the municipal building at 155 Connelly Blvd.
The drilling company has promised the city 500,000 cubic feet of natural gas a year to help heat the city building plus a $5,000 signing bonus.
Also on agenda: In other business, council learned that the addition of a turning lane at West State Street and North Water Avenue should be built this summer to end the traffic bottleneck.
Traffic backs up from Water Avenue to the Shenango River when motorists westbound on State Street stop to make a left turn at Water.
The project will add a turning lane for them. The city will lose six street-side parking spaces to make room for the lane.