Invest in Valley’s future at Streetscape, Riverfest

Mark your calendars now for next weekend when two golden opportunities to celebrate and contribute to enhancing key community assets in the Mahoning Valley again will roll out.

We urge as many as possible to seize those opportunities to build upon the success of the revitalization of downtown Youngstown and to the rejuvenation of the Mahoning River. They can do so by digging in at the 22nd annual Streetscape cleanup and beautification project in the central city next Saturday and at the eighth annual Riverfest on the banks of the Mahoning at the B&O Station downtown next Sunday.

The Streetscape project, sponsored by Youngstown CityScape, the nonprofit community development organization promoting the greater downtown area, has matured into an annual eye-turning tradition.

What started in 1998 as an informal effort to clean up and spruce up a relatively lifeless and abandoned central business district by a handful of volunteers has germinated into a massive undertaking by more than 600 volunteers and contributors to complement ongoing successes in reinventing downtown as a vibrant hub of commerce and entertainment.

Collectively, members of institutions as diverse as Youngstown State University, St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and the Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown get down and dirty. From 9 a.m. until noon, they clean, they trim, they plant and they mulch in high-visibility areas where the aesthetic transformation can gain maximum exposure.

In its two decades, Streetscape has invested more than $1 million into downtown beautification. That’s not counting the scores of hours of free labor donated from devoted volunteers.

CityScape Executive Director Sharon Letson said she’s grateful for the support the project has witnessed for more than two decades now.

“For 22 years, CityScape has been working steadily to imagine, develop and complete projects that beautify our surroundings and create a sense of pride in our center city and in our downtown public greenspaces,” Letson said at this spring’s annual kickoff breakfast to promote the June 1 edition of Streetscape, dubbed “Spruce Up Youngstown.”

The aesthetic improvements accomplished by the army of green-thumbed volunteers complement ongoing revitalization efforts and, in so doing, saves the cash-strapped coffers of city government a considerable hit.

As City Councilman Julius Oliver, D- 1st Ward, put it, Youngstown’s tight finances cannot afford “to make downtown Youngstown and the surrounding neighborhoods look the way they do.”

We congratulate Streetscape in maturing into an integral piece of the city’s urban renewal puzzle and hope that a record number of volunteers turn out next Saturday to carry on that tradition.

Toward that end, participants are urged to register in advance at youngstowncityscape.org. Registration includes breakfast, lunch and T-shirt for the first 500 signed up.

CELEBRATE THE MAHONING

One day after that work is complete, Streetscapers and others can high-tail it a few blocks down to the B & O Station on Mahoning Avenue to the Eighth Annual Riverfest, sponsored by the Friends of the Mahoning River organization.

That growing community coalition has worked steadfastly over the years toward improving the river’s watershed for recreational opportunities and economic development. The June 2 festival from noon to 5 p.m. stands as a celebration of its successes in those efforts.

The festival also will include kayaking and canoeing plus educational and historical presentations with a focus on the river and the environment. Most importantly Riverfest 8 will enable the community to celebrate progress already achieved on the river and to galvanize bigger and better achievements in the not-so-distant future.

That progress is tangible. After decades of waiting, one of several dams along the Mahoning in Lowellville where tons of toxic sediments prevented a free and clear flow of water is at long last being removed this year. In addition, construction is moving full-stream ahead on the Mahoning Riverfront park adjacent to the new outdoor amphitheater downtown. Other cleanup initiatives throughout the Valley abound.

Together, Riverfest and Streetscape represent two concrete investments in the future of Youngstown and the region. Both deserve maximum support next weekend.