NEW CASTLE Workers begin to wrap up project

The work is part of a $10 million project to revitalize the city's downtown.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Motorists heading downtown this Christmas season can expect some holiday cheer and clear roads.
City officials say they expect to have all of East Washington Street open to traffic by Christmas. Portions of the road have been closed since April as part of the downtown revitalization project.
Workers finished a two-block section from Kennedy Square to North Mill Street earlier in the fall and are working on the section between Mill and East streets.
"The first couple of blocks were the hardest because things underground were a mess," said John DiMuccio, city business administrator. But work is now going more smoothly, he added.
What's being done
Workers are putting all new underground utilities, sidewalks, roadways, storm sewers, traffic signals, lampposts and bus stops on East Washington Street as part of a $10 million project to revitalize downtown and to attract businesses and shoppers.
Mayor Timothy Fulkerson said work is a couple of weeks behind schedule, but if the weather remains good they should be able to catch up.
Fulkerson said about 80 percent of the sidewalks are already in place and workers were continuing last week to pour concrete intersections.
"I'm hoping it will all be poured soon," the mayor said. He said he hopes to have South Mill and East Washington streets open for a parade Nov. 25, but those areas likely won't remain open after that time to motor vehicles.
DiMuccio said cars probably won't be permitted on East Washington Street until closer to Christmas.
The city business administrator added that new Christmas decorations have been ordered and will be up in time for the holidays.
Other portions of the revitalization project will go well into next year, DiMuccio said.
Other work
Similar work is planned for Mill and East streets and small sitting parks and parking lots are going to be constructed on Grant and South streets and along the Neshannock Creek, he said.
The project is intended to give downtown a turn-of-the-century look with black, wrought iron light poles, traffic signals and parking meters.
It is being done in conjunction with a private developer who is renovating the building where the Warner brothers, Youngstown natives who went on to become Hollywood movie makers, had their first theater in the early 1900s.
Pennsylvania gave the city a $5 million grant to make the downtown improvements and another $5 million is coming from loans, grants and other means.
DiMuccio said the city has spent about $3.5 million of that $10 million so far.