REGION Girard, E. Liverpool sites funded
The Girard center will receive $700,000 and the hall of fame will get $800,000.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Just as he did last December, U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. secured federal money for two of his favorite projects: the Girard Multigenerational Center and a vocational education program coordinated by the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame.
The Girard center will receive $700,000, and the hall of fame will receive $800,000, which was included in the U.S. House of Representatives' 2002 Labor, Education, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill, Traficant announced Thursday.
Traficant, of Poland, D-17th, secured $921,000 for each of the programs last year from the same House appropriations bill.
The Girard center, at the former Tod Woods School, provides a variety of programs and services for senior citizens and school-age children.
The center, which opened earlier this year, also serves as temporary classroom space for displaced Girard Intermediate School pupils while that building is being rehabilitated.
Chairman: The center's chairman is Jack O'Connell, a former local labor leader, ex-Youngstown State University trustee and a longtime Traficant friend and supporter.
But Charles Straub, Traficant's spokesman, said the friendship between his boss and O'Connell had nothing to do with the funding.
"We believe the center will be a model for other communities and is a worthwhile project," Straub said. "Jack O'Connell is running it and that's a positive for the project because he's doing an excellent job."
How the money will be spent will be decided by officials with the Girard center, Straub said.
Other funds: The $800,000 obtained for the hall of fame will be divided evenly among 20 school districts in the Upper Ohio Valley for vocational programming. Only five of the 20 school districts are in Traficant's congressional district.
Officials with the hall of fame, located in East Liverpool, determined which schools were funded based on their proximity to the hall, Straub said. That means several of the school districts are in nearby West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
"The congressman enjoys working on this project for the educational benefits that come out of it, even though some of the school districts are not in his congressional district," Straub said.
The money for the two projects will be allocated next month, Straub said.
skolnick@vindy.com