Wednesday, March 22, 2006
The old Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube building will come tumbling down.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Legislation before city council today aims to improve the appearance of a business corridor and possibly attract new businesses.
One ordinance on the agenda for council's meeting would authorize the city's board of control to enter into an agreement with Gasser Chair Inc. for an exchange of the company's Martin Luther King Boulevard storage building and a $25,000 relocation grant.
The storage building, formerly housing offices of Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube, has long been an eyesore on one of the main entryways into the city, officials said.
The company would get the Maverick Tube Corp. office building on Albert Street.
Another ordinance would authorize the board of control to enter a donation agreement with Maverick Tube Corp. to gift the Albert Street property to the city. The 47,410-square-foot building sits on nearly eight acres of land that's adjacent to 12 acres already owned by the city.
The city plans to demolish the former Youngstown Sheet & amp; Tube office building. Finance Director David Bozanich estimated that cost at $250,000.
"It's an agreement between five parties: the city of Youngstown, the state of Ohio, V & amp;M Tube, Maverick Tube and Gasser Chair," Bozanich said.
What's behind this
The intent is to demolish the old office building and improve access to V & amp;M Tube and the Ohio Works Business Park. The plan is to link Ohio Works to the 711 Connector with road construction expected this summer.
Work done near the business park including the 711 Connector has improved the appearance of the area, the finance director said, but the office building remains.
"The building is an eyesore in that area," Bozanich said.
The vacant land surrounding the building will be retained by the city, which plans some landscaping work, he said.
Bozanich said the ordinances are part of a larger plan to improve the area around Division Street. That cost is about $1.6 million with 50 percent paid by the city, 40 percent from the state and 10 percent from V & amp;M, he said.
"It will improve access in an out of V & amp;M and the Ohio Works site," Bozanich said.
It also will make the area more attractive to businesses considering the site, he said.