DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN Bill frees up $25M for projects

By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mayor George M. McKelvey sees a dramatic transformation of downtown starting as soon as next month.
The expected shift of a $25 million federal grant the city holds -- from an arena project to general downtown development -- will let that happen, he said Wednesday.
"You could be talking about a total face-lift of Federal Street within 24 months," he said. "Everything is possible with money. It's extremely exciting."
Republican U.S. Sens. George V. Voinovich and Michael DeWine worked a provision into a $328 billion federal spending bill. The item drops the requirement that the city use the $25 million to build only an arena downtown.
Instead, the bill lets the funds be spent on economic development or revitalization projects in the downtown and gives the city up to three more years to spend it, McKelvey said.
Passage expected
The House is expected to pass the bill Dec. 8. Senate passage is expected the next day.
The senators couldn't be reached to comment Wednesday. U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, supports the change and will assist however he can, said his spokesman, Patrick Lowry.
City officials could reach consensus on how to spend the money by late next month, McKelvey said.
James A. Traficant Jr., the now-imprisoned former congressman, secured the money for an arena in 2000. Second-guessing on the best use for the funds started almost immediately.
Topping McKelvey's list for the money is demolishing about 20 condemned city-owned buildings on West Federal Street and helping the Youngstown Business Incubator expand.
Demolition could start in the first quarter of next year, he said.
"It's time to do things. Let's quit talking and start rebuilding," McKelvey said.
A structural engineer declared seven of those 20 buildings in 2000 to be in danger of collapse. An estimate then to demolish them was $2 million to $4 million.
The incubator has secured $2 million from the state but is seeking a total of $5 million for office expansion, creation of a high-end computer lab and an operating endowment.
Other possible projects
Among the other lagging downtown projects McKelvey envisions becoming possible with the money include:
*A collaboration with Mahoning County to find space for the 7th District Court of Appeals.
*A new city municipal court.
*A new office building where the decrepit former Master Tuxedo buildings stand.
A new city hall and police department have been talked about, but McKelvey said those would be lesser priorities.
Such funding would let downtown's redevelopment agency remove all but two of its 20 blighted buildings, said Jason Whitehead, executive director of the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. The Semple and Wells buildings can be saved, but the others are too far gone, he said.
"I think it's fantastic. This is like dream-come-true stuff," he said.
Whitehead is confident the CIC can move fast to make changes downtown because so many plans have been drawn up. "There are things in the pipeline. What's missing has been this $25 million," he said.
Seed money for arena?
Meanwhile, McKelvey said $3 million to $5 million could be set aside as seed money if a private developer will offer to build an arena.
The city will keep the land between the Market Street and South Avenue bridges that it bought for the arena project for $1.5 million, he said. The site could become a park and amphitheater or be used for industrial development, he said.
McKelvey said he did what he could over the past 21/2 years, but reality is, a lack of private investment makes it hard to strike an arena deal.
Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, whose ward includes downtown and who has been close to the arena negotiation, said he wants to talk with residents, and political and business leaders before outlining an agenda for the money.
If residents want an arena, Gillam said he still will push for one. But he said downtown needs the help. Using the federal money for downtown will free up city funds for neighborhoods, he said.
"I'm elated we have other options," Gillam said.
McKelvey said he was glad to have the flexibility and extra time when DeWine and Voinovich offered their help. The moves avoid the possibility of losing the money by not building an arena or making a bad business investment, he said.
"Only a fool would say 'no,'" McKelvey said.
Praise from mayor
McKelvey commended those who lobbied the senators for the change, Vindicator management. City officials tried unsuccessfully over the past couple of years to have the federal government reprogram the money.
Mark A. Brown, the newspaper's general manager, said he, Publisher Betty H. Jagnow and political columnist Bertram de Souza met with the senators two weeks ago.
They were there to lobby for federal funding for the incubator expansion because the resulting jobs are important to the area, Brown said.
They also asked if the senators could get Congress to approve more time for the project and reprogram the money for development, he said.
Newspaper management was concerned about the downsizing of the proposed arena project because of finances, Brown said. They questioned whether that was the best use for the money, he said. Vindicator management wasn't crazy about the idea of an arena but didn't ask the senators to kill it, he said.
Newspaper management and the senators have had a good relationship and share common interests, including jobs, economic development and downtown revitalization, Brown said.
Timing may be why the newspaper management's lobbying succeeded when others didn't, Brown said.
Other reprogramming efforts came when Traficant was still in power. Traficant, however, probably didn't have the power to reprogram the money without losing it, Brown said. There was a better chance that the Republican senators and a Republican-controlled administration would support such a move, he said.
"We thought it was worth a shot," Brown said.
rgsmith@vindy.com