NEW CASTLE, PA. City officials outline revitalization plan

The project is part of a larger 20-year redevelopment plan that is intended to bring in more businesses.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Downtown business owners say they support a revitalization plan to create more parking, resurface streets and install new utilities.
Several spoke Thursday at a hearing where city officials outlined plans for the project. It is part of a formal process the city must follow before it gets state money for the work that is slated to start this summer.
"It's our last chance. We've got to get behind this," said Mike Caggiano of Main Street Clothier and Custom Tailors on East Washington Street.
"We're very encouraged and excited by this project," said Mark Kauffman of Butz Flowers, a business that has been in New Castle for 150 years, also on East Washington Street.
The state has promised the city $5 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program to pay for new sidewalks, walkways and parking lots. A $1.55 million city bond issue will pay for street resurfacing and new utility lines.
Additional plans: Those improvements are in conjunction with a privately developed Warner Bros.-themed mall planned by Cascade Development. Cascade has agreed to spend at least $2.4 million on improvements to three buildings, including one that housed the Warner Brothers first theater.
The restored theater will be the focal point of the mall which includes plans for a movie memorabilia museum, restaurants, an arcade and retail shops in the other buildings, according to developers.
Roger Smith of New Visions for New Castle, a volunteer group that builds city parks, commended developers and city officials on the plans.
"It's an attempt to make New Castle a viable and vital city. It addresses decline in a creative, thoughtful and intelligent manner," he said.
There will be river walk parks, new lighting, benches, fountains and a downtown clock tower along with new parking created.
The project will include much needed improvements to the city's existing sewage and water lines.
"It's a good way to correct a lot of problems that the city wouldn't have the money for otherwise," said Gary Chuey of Michael Baker Engineering, the city's storm sewage management engineering firm.
Officials say its probably the city's last chance at revitalization.
Project catalyst: "What else would we do if we didn't have Tom George [of Cascade Development]?" said Mayor Timothy Fulkerson. "He gave us the opportunity to revitalize the infrastructure of downtown New Castle. Otherwise the taxpayers would have to pay for it out of another bond issue down the road."
The project includes designating parts of the city as redevelopment areas for the next 20 years, Fulkerson said.
Work near the Warner Bros. project is only a small section of that area, he said.
The designated redevelopment areas will allow the city to work with other developers and make more improvements, he said.
The city has already started studying improvements to Neshannock Creek which could eventually be a recreation spot for fishing and canoeing, Fulkerson said.
The banks of the creek, which include Neshannock Village, a low-income housing complex owned by the Lawrence County Housing Authority, could be a prime spot for future development, he said.
"Hopefully Neshannock Village would be moved and the housing authority can sell that prime property to a developer. So that can fall into our development plans," he said.