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New Rescue Mission will be built
YOUNGSTOWN
The planned construction of the new $10 million Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley on a 17.5-acre site at South Side Park will definitely occur, with any fundraising shortfall to be made up later this year through a bank mortgage, the mission’s director said Thursday.
Ground is to be broken this year, with the new building’s opening next year coinciding with the mission’s 125th anniversary, said Jim Echement, mission executive director.
To date, $6.75 million has been raised for the project from a combination of private donations, tax credits and Federal Home Loan Bank grants, he said.
Echement appeared Thursday on the Louie Free show on Vindy Talk Radio to discuss the mission and its future.
The new mission will replace the current cramped mission building, which features an emergency shelter and dining room in a 1930-vintage former YMCA at 962 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
“We’re stressing the old building we’re in right now every day that we’re in it, and we need to get this started so that we can get out of there before there’s a disaster,” of facility failure, Echement said.
“We’re losing ground on the plumbing. We’re losing ground on the exterior of the building that’s non-repairable,” he added.
“It’s time,” for a new building, he said. “We need a building that’s designed and put together exactly for what we do,” he said.
In the past nine years, the mission’s average overnight occupancy has doubled from about 65 people to about 130.
Unlike the current building, the new building will be handicapped accessible.
The current four-story building has only a freight elevator and no passenger elevator. The new three-story building will have two passenger elevators.
The new structure will also have improved security features and better separation of facilities for single men from family quarters, Echement said.
Shelter capacity will rise from the current 167 beds, plus 30 emergency floor mats, to 200 beds, plus 100 emergency floor mats.
The number of parking spaces will increase from nine to about 200, he said.
The five-year fundraising campaign will continue, with new money raised to be used toward paying back the mortgage, Echement said.
The campaign chairman is Shorty Navarro, a local auto dealer.
Jim Tressel, Youngstown State University president, has appeared in TV spots promoting the campaign.
A representative of an alcohol and drug recovery facility has expressed interest in using the existing mission building, which the mission hopes to sell, Echement said.
Planned future phases of the facility at South Side Park will be addition of a day- care center and free medical clinic, Echement said.
“We’re ecstatic that they’ve made the decision to go forward with the project. We think that that construction and development will help clean up an area that’s been sort of left alone for awhile,” said Mayor John A. McNally.
“We look forward to talking to Jim [Echement] in the future on ways that we can help the project,” the mayor said.