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Youngstown buys parcel needed for downtown amphitheater
YOUNGSTOWN
The city’s board of control signed a deal to pay $10,000 for 0.71 of an acre to CSX Transportation for the planned downtown amphitheater project.
With Thursday’s purchase, the city has all the property needed to build the 3,250-seat amphitheater to be located at the former Wean United Building site on South Phelps Street, said Finance Director David Bozanich.
The city needs to negotiate a few easement agreements with CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway for other small parcels for utility work near the amphitheater site, he said.
A contractor to build the amphitheater and a downtown riverfront park is expected to be hired by Sept. 1 with the project’s start date set for Sept. 15. Completion of the project is expected by May 1, 2018.
The amphitheater and park project is estimated to cost $8 million to $9 million.
The board also agreed to loan $350,000 to 2Deep Entertainment, an entertainment booking and event scheduling company, to move from 7326 Southern Blvd. in Boardman to 237 E. Front St. next to the Covelli Centre.
The loan is for up to 12 months at 0.25 percent interest, guaranteed by an irrevocable letter of credit from a lending institution.
2Deep will occupy about 1,500 square feet of the 5,820-square-foot building with the remaining vacant space leased to other tenants, said Terrill Vidale, its president.
Vidale said he’s in discussions with a credit union and an insurance company to occupy other parts of the property.
“The city is growing, and I want to be part of it,” he said.
The property is probably best known as the former location of the Players Club International card distribution center facility.