DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION Group to name task force to push effort

The group wants to take advantage of new state funding programs.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- Creating a task force and finding resource people who can help guide the process are the next steps for a group of business people looking to help revitalize the downtown business district.
"Timing is crucial," said Glenn Siminick, chairman of the Greater Sharon Associates and organizer of the revitalization movement.
A half-dozen people showed up at the group's initial meeting March 12 and about 20 turned out for a second session Thursday to learn more about what state programs are available to help and what local support may be required.
The immediate need is to put together a group willing to serve as a task force to push the revitalization effort, Siminick said.
Downtown Center
Efforts should also be made to contact people who can help with that process and one of the first contacts should be the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, a state organization that deals with rebuilding downtown core areas, said Dennis Puko, executive director of the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission.
That agency can provide some organizing expertise and can also help when the local revitalization effort begins to push for state funding because it works with the state Department of Community & amp; Economic Development, which controls most of those funds, Puko said.
The city already has a revitalization plan on the books put together in 2002 by E.G. & amp; G., an Akron-based consulting company.
Joseph Mazzola of E.G. & amp; G. attended Thursday's meeting and offered his company's services to help the local effort.
Leverage money
Local, private leverage money is vital to attracting state dollars, Mazzola said, adding that presenting a united front including the city, business leaders and the community is also important.
The Rev. Larry Haynes, executive director of the Shenango Valley Foundation, suggested that creating a community capital fund pot of money as local leverage funds for state grants could be run through the foundation which has nonprofit status, providing a place to donate money to the effort.
Jim Micsky, executive director of the United Way of Mercer County, said the area's state legislators should also be enlisted to support the effort.
Puko said the revitalization effort could be done in phases over a period of years.
The work needs to be prioritized and everyone should be speaking with one voice when it comes time to ask for state aid, he said.
Grants and loans
Phil Scrimenti of the Governor's Center for Local Government Services, said the state has a number of new grant and loan programs targeting downtown rebuilding efforts.
Regulations are still being drafted, but those programs could be activated within a couple of months, he said.
Mayor David O. Ryan said the effort should concentrate on proposed development projects the city has already presented to the governor's office.
They include the $9.5 million downtown revitalization targeting building and roadway improvements, $10 million in residential neighborhood infrastructure improvements, a $7 million renovation and expansion at Penn State Shenango, $6 million in improvements at Sharon Regional Health System and development of both public and private industrial land in the city.