MAHONING VALLEY Plan restores a river of industry

The project joins three cities, the county, regional planning groups and private organizations.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A coalition seeking to revitalize a 1,400-acre corridor along the Mahoning River has developed a master plan that envisions an area with 75 businesses and more than 6,000 jobs.
The plan of the multijurisdictional Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity Committee incorporates an area that runs between the Performance Park industrial complex in Youngstown to the Struthers-Lowellville border and between Wilson Avenue and Poland Avenue/State Street.
Struthers Mayor Daniel C. Mamula said the project is a regional effort by his city with Campbell, Youngstown, Mahoning County and various government and private entities.
"Economic development and improved quality of life transcend political boundaries," Mamula said. "The driving philosophy of the organization is that boundaries do not matter except as obstacles to be surmounted."
The numbers
Mamula said he plans to organize a public meeting where the master plan will be unveiled. It was funded with $189,000 from Campbell, Struthers, Youngstown and the county.
The corridor was once the site of "the hotbed of Mahoning Valley industry," Mamula said, with two major steel mills and 20,000 jobs.
The new 20-year plan would transform the area into one with 75 buildings to bring more than 6,000 jobs to business offices, warehousing/distribution companies and light manufacturing sites. Annual property tax revenue is estimated at $5.3 million and annual income tax revenue at $3.6 million.
The corridor would also provide an 8.2-mile bikeway and 25 acres of open space in various sites along the river.
It would be developed in five phases, by breaking the site into eight areas.
Numbers regarding building sizes, building numbers and possible employment are "very conservative" and could be higher, said Neil Chase, project manager at URS Corp. in Cleveland, the company that prepared the plan.
Chase said the key to success will be providing adequate access to the site and to Interstate 680.
Progress
Since 1995, Mamula said, the area has already seen some changes, including:
UNew bridges were constructed across the river at Center Street and at state Route 616.
UCasey Equipment Corp. established an industrial park that also includes Munroe Inc. and Quality Bar.
UCene Park, with three professional-size baseball fields, was built alongside a new "Bob Cene Roadway" that provides access to the corridor.
UAstro Shapes Inc. added a multimillion-dollar expansion and hundreds of jobs.
UThe CASTLO industrial park has filled three vacant buildings and provided about 100 jobs.
UValley Sports Limited, an indoor soccer facility, was built on State Street over a former slag pile.
Bridge
The next step is the construction of a bridge at Walton Avenue that would provide easier access to the site. Mamula said construction of this "first major public infrastructure improvement related to the site" could begin by mid-2003.
"We need to develop a sense that something's happening," Mamula said. "Things are happening, it's just time consuming. Laying the groundwork is hard to do."
The bridge has been made possible by a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that provided assessment of brownfields in that area, Mamula said. The bridge will be built using a $1.8 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration, $550,000 from the state Department of Development and $700,000 in funds from the Mahoning County sales tax economic development fund.
In other areas, Mamula said, Campbell is seeking Clean Ohio funds for environmental site assessments and the CASTLO park is also filing for environmental remediation funds.
About the coalition
The idea of the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity was conceived in 1995 when Mamula organized an economic summit, he said. The organization was formed in 1997 and 1998.
Members include Campbell, Struthers and Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp., Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, Youngstown State University, CASTLO Community Improvement Corp., Consumers Ohio Water Co., FirstEnergy Corp. and East Ohio Gas.
The group received a "Joint Center for Sustainable Communities" award in 1999 from the National Association of Counties and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It was one of 15 such awards granted across the nation that year.