Trumbull County applying again for grant to revitalize downtown brownfields

Staff report

WARREN

Trumbull County commissioners have authorized a second try for a $200,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency brownfield-planning grant that would help revitalize “commercial brownfields” in the downtown area.

Commercial brownfields include vacant office buildings, gas stations and vacant lots. These types of brownfields are closer together and smaller than the industrial brownfields government officials talk about the most.

The first application, filed by the Trumbull County Planning Commission in 2014, barely missed the cut, said county planner Julie Edwards.

As with the first application, the county-owned Wean Building at 147 N. Park Ave., is the “catalyst site” for the application, meaning it is being identified for special attention because of its potential for revitalizing the target area, which is bounded by South Street, Chestnut Avenue, Porter Street and the Mahoning River.

The five-story, 77,000-square-foot building was constructed in 1924 and received an addition in 1956. It was owned by Wean Engineering (later, Wean United), which made machinery for the steel industry.

The site is important for historical reasons related to Wean, but it’s also in a location that is important for its space in transition between the commercial downtown areas and the Garden District just north of downtown, Edwards said.

If funded, the grant would enable the planning commission to develop a plan to revitalize the urban core, which also is important as the county seat.

Part of the work would be a community-engagement study to determine what sites are important to community leaders and residents and determine what are the best uses for the sites, Edwards said.