GIRARD Condos replace school in proposal

The senior citizen building will be a $2 million to $3 million investment.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- The old North Avenue Elementary School will be demolished as part of a proposal to build a senior-citizen housing complex.
The Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority wants to build a 30- to 40-unit apartment building on a site between North Avenue and Washington Street on the city's north side.
"It's something the city has wanted for years," Mayor James J. Melfi said Wednesday of the razing of the school building.
One recent police report said the building contains about a foot of pigeon droppings on its floors.
Melfi said he views the structure, which hasn't been occupied for about 30 years, as a health and safety hazard.
The building is owned by Dr. Chander Kohli, a neurosurgeon and Youngstown State University trustee.
In a Feb. 13 letter to Melfi, Atty. John L. Pogue of Warren, representing the TMHA, said the proposal calls for razing the former school at no cost to Kohli. The property must be left in a condition for the construction of multifamily dwellings.
Donald Emerson Jr., TMHA director, said Kohli will retain ownership of the site where the school building now stands.
Melfi said the doctor intends to construct a senior citizen condominium complex there.
Here's the deal
Under the proposal, city council must approve construction of Kohli's senior condos and construction of TMHA's senior apartment building.
The proposal calls for TMHA to underwrite the cost of razing the building above what the city will spend in federal Community Development Block Grant funds this year to demolish it. The city has $60,000 in CDBG funds this year.
Kohli will donate five lots along Washington Avenue to the TMHA. With the vacation of Jennie Street by the city, Melfi said, the authority will have enough land to build.
Emerson said the senior-citizen apartment building will cost between $2 million and $3 million to construct.
"I like to see older buildings retained, but the size of the [former school] building doesn't lend itself to redevelopment financially," Melfi said.
He pointed out the site is ideal for seniors because it's across the street from the Girard Free Library, and a grocery store is about a block away.
"Providing life and vitality to the neighborhood is very exciting," the mayor said, noting it's been a top priority of his four-year administration.
yovich@vindy.com