New bridge to old S & amp;T buildings carries hope for industrial revival

A new $4 million bridge provides easy access to former steel mill land.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CAMPBELL -- A dozen surviving Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube buildings are ready to welcome the employers that a new bridge over the Mahoning River promises to bring.
For two decades, Casey Equipment Corp. has been maintaining those buildings with the hope of creating new jobs where thousands used to work. So far, Casey and two of its tenants employ 65.
Those numbers should go up now that a $4 million bridge has been completed to connect Poland Avenue in Youngstown to the land across the river in Campbell, said Kurt Casey, vice president for the Pittsburgh-based company that refurbishes steel mill and electrical equipment. The bridge is at Walton Avenue.
Black Monday anniversary
Government officials dedicated the bridge Monday -- the 28th anniversary of Black Monday, when Sheet & amp; Tube announced it was moving its headquarters to Indiana and laying off 5,000 local workers.
Jack Dill, Campbell mayor, stood on the bridge and pointed to land owned by Casey and others.
"The growth in this complex will begin today," he said.
The bridge is important because the only entrance to the former Sheet & amp; Tube land is an old one-lane bridge that is less than 12 feet wide. The new bridge is 24 feet wide.
The new bridge not only allows companies to bring in wide loads, but it also improves the aesthetics of the entrance, Casey said. Trucks coming from downtown Struthers reach the old bridge by going over a gravel road.
Besides, no one is sure who is responsible for the old bridge if something happens to it, he said. LTV Steel used to own it, but that company has been liquidated.
Casey steps in
Casey came to the area in 1979, two years after Black Monday. LTV was shutting down former Sheet & amp; Tube operations and hired Casey to sell unneeded equipment. Instead of taking cash from LTV, Casey took ownership of land and buildings.
The company and its tenants use about half of the 1 million square feet of building space that it owns, but Casey said operations could be consolidated. Another company in the area, Munroe Inc., has a steel processing operation that employs 50.
Vacant land
There is much vacant land to be developed, however. The Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity -- the volunteer group behind the redevelopment -- is promoting the reuse of 1,400 acres. On each end are two success stories -- CASTLO Industrial Park in Struthers and the Performance Place industrial park in Youngstown.
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, presented the local group with $1.6 million in federal highway funds to help pay for the next step in the project. Plans call for extending roads at the foot of the bridge and studying a new Interstate 680 exit at Shirley Road.
Steel workers attend
A dozen former steel workers attended the bridge dedication to see the new bridge, which was named Steelworkers Bridge. Most of them had entered the mill at that site, using a bridge that has since been torn down by LTV.
"It looks so different when you see all the green space down there," said Brad Ramsbottom, 80, of Struthers. "You don't see the open hearth. You don't see the blooming mill."
Walter Zaluski, 78, of Struthers, and his four brothers lost their jobs on Black Monday.
"It was a sad day," he said.
Glimmer of hope
Still, the effort to put up a new bridge shows there is some hope for the former steel mill land, he said.
Dan Mamula, Struthers mayor and corridor board chairman, said the board started with no funds but has used local, county, state and federal money to piece together $4 million for the bridge and $1.4 million for environmental studies.
More money is coming, he said. Struthers and Campbell expect the state to approve grants of $730,000 for cleanup of land in Struthers and further study of land in Campbell, he said. Also, the Corridor board hopes the state will provide more money for road work.
Mamula said he and the others involved are committed to developing the land. He noted that he grew up in Lowellville, just down the street from an ore pile at a mill there.
"I'm a river boy," he said. "This area deserves better, and it'll get better."
shilling@vindy.com