Trumbull County starts moving shelving units into First Place Bank building

Staff report

WARREN

The sale isn’t complete, but close enough for Trumbull County officials to begin moving into the First Place Bank building on East Market Street.

Workers from Records Systems of Boardman were delivering storage units into the basement of the building Thursday to hold Trumbull County records.

County Commissioner Paul Heltzel said Thursday the closing on the purchase is expected to occur in the coming week, but the bank gave permission for the county to start bringing in shelving units.

The commissioners hired Phillips/Sekanick Architects in December for $11,915 to design the 50,000-square-foot space to maximize its usefulness.

Heltzel said he would not reveal the purchase price until the purchase is complete.

The county started looking for a location to store county records after a flood in the basement of the county-owned Stone Building on Courthouse Square last summer.

The First Place Bank location, at the corner of East Market Street and Pine Avenue, will house the county planning commission, county building- inspection department and records storage, mostly for the recorder’s office.

The planning and building-inspection departments will be moving out of the county-owned Wean Building on North Park Avenue, which has numerous defects, such as water leaks and heating and air-conditioning problems, and county officials say the building is not repairable.

Heltzel said the bank will retain rights to continue to operate a drive-through window at its present location for 10 years.

The drive-through is one of the busier ones in Warren and provides a valuable service, so it’s good that the drive-through will remain, Heltzel noted.