History center would get $220,000

By Denise Dick

Staff report

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The Mahoning Valley History Center would receive $220,000 under a bill passed by a U.S. House Appropriations subcommittee.

U.S. Reps. Tim Ryan, of Niles, D-17th, and Betty Sutton, D-13th, announced that the subcommittee on Interior and Environment passed its fiscal-year 2011 spending bill that includes $5.4 million for land acquisition at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Ryan and Sutton helped secure an additional $4 million for the park’s expansion last year. The bill still must pass the full House Appropriations Committee, the full House and Senate and be signed by the president.

“Northeastern Ohio is blessed with an unparalleled stock of historical resources,” Ryan said. “I am excited to announce funding for both the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and Mahoning Valley History Center.”

The center “will preserve and illustrate the Mahoning Valley’s rich industrial history in a new downtown location that will tie its past directly into its innovative future,” he said.

The West Federal Street building, bought by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The adaptive reuse and renovation of the building will integrate accessible research and learning facilities with public spaces for community events and will enable the historical society to augment its capacity as an educational and cultural resource.

More than $4 million has been raised toward the project’s $6 million goal.

Federal funds will be used for exhibits that feature a comprehensive regional history experience, a community history gallery to be used by local organizations and a hands-on learning and discovery center for children.

MVHS will use the exhibit and research programs to present examples of leadership and entrepreneurship from the past.