WARREN Officials hope to keep open former hospital
The issue will be discussed at a meeting Monday.
By AMANDA C. DAVIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The director of the Warren Redevelopment and Planning agency is optimistic something can be worked out to keep Riverside Square open.
Michael Keys said he's met twice with Daniel Cadle, owner of the building that used to be St. Joseph Riverside Hospital.
"We're looking at solutions," Keys said, explaining another vacant building is not what the city needs. "I think it's going to work."
Cadle has said he's closing the building because city council won't grant commercial zoning and he's losing money.
Many nearby residents say they want their neighborhood to stay as is, and some tenants of the building say they don't want to look for new space.
Meeting set: All parties will have a chance to hash out the issues at a meeting at 7 p.m. Monday in Emerson Elementary School, 1619 Drexel N.W.
The meeting was called by Councilwoman Virginia Bufano, D-1st.
She said her phone has been ringing since Cadle announced more than a week ago that he'll have to close because he's lost a lot of money on the building for a few reasons, including high utility costs.
Residents are worried commercial businesses would ruin the neighborhood and increase traffic, she said.
Cadle, of Newton Falls, said in the past he wanted more flexibility in renting space to businesses.
In the building: The building, at 1400 Tod Avenue N.W., houses professional offices, a commercial laundry, a moving company, a veterans' clinic and offices for organizations including SCOPE senior citizens agency, Belmont Pines Hospital and Fairhaven, the county agency serving the mentally and developmentally disabled.
St. Joseph Hospital closed in 1996 and moved to the former Warren General Hospital building on Eastland Avenue.
Cadle has been battling the city for a few years to get the zoning changed from residential to commercial. The city planning commission supports the change, but in May, council turned down the request.
He requested a similar zone change a few years ago for the laundry. A 21/2-year zoning battle ended in 1999 when a ruling from Trumbull County Common Pleas Court allowed the laundry to operate, but not as a coin-operated laundry with walk-in customers.