HUD approves Youngstown request to borrow $4M for amphitheater project

YOUNGSTOWN — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has approved the city’s request to borrow $4 million from its federal Community Development Block Grant funds for the proposed downtown amphitheater and riverfront park project.

In a letter to Mayor John A. McNally, Stanley Gimont, HUD’s deputy assistant secretary for grant programs, wrote the federal agency approved the request.

The loan must be paid back over 20 years with an interest rate of 2.59 percent, Gimont wrote.

In addition to the federal funds, the city also plans to spend $5 million from its water, wastewater and environmental sanitation funds, and raise $3 million to $4 million from naming rights and sponsorship deals for the project.

The project is expected to be done in the fall 2018.

For the complete story, read Saturday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com