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Youngstown seeks funds for cleaning up building, partial demolition
YOUNGSTOWN
The city is seeking state money to clean up and partially demolish the former Wean United Building downtown.
The board of control approved a $5,000 contract Thursday with Brownfield Restoration Group, an Akron company, to prepare an application for funding through the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund.
The application will be submitted shortly, and the city will find out if it will receive money by October or November, said T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s economic development director.
The project would cost about $2.3 million with the city seeking $1.7 million from the state, said Woodberry and Sarah Lown, the city’s development incentive manager.
About 50,000 square feet of the building, closest to Market Street, would be demolished, with asbestos and other hazardous materials removed from the entire building, which is about 150,000 square feet. The building is on South Phelps Street, off of Front Street.
“The Wean Building has always been on our radar” to clean up and partially demolish because it’s located at the corner of one of downtown’s major gateways, Woodberry said.
“When you come into downtown [on Market Street from Boardman] you see the Covelli Centre to your right and the Wean Building to your left,” she said. “It will make a big impact to demolish the blighted part” of Wean.
Wean United closed the plant in 1989. Portions of the building have been used by other companies since.
Youngstown Pipe and Supply Co. will move from the Wean United Building by the end of this year to the former Cold Metal Products building on Wilson Avenue in Campbell and Youngstown, Woodberry said. The two cities will split tax revenues 50-50 at the company’s new location, she said.
The board also approved paying a $21,790 severance package to Iris Torres Guglucello, who retired Aug. 31 as the city’s law director.
Guglucello, who earned $83,948.45 annually in base pay, received $12,886 in unused sick time, $8,071 in unused vacation time and $832 in longevity pay.
She was replaced by Anthony Farris, who was a deputy law director.