CASTLO News!

"New Bridge Spans Steel Memories with Hope"

October 2005, The Business Journal
 

Every morning for 36 years, from 1947 to 1983, Harry Denmeade of Struthers parked his cart strolled across the Walton Avenue bridge and walked back into the heart of industrial America.

Denmeade, a retired steelworker from Youngstown Sheet & Tube, returned Sept.19 to where that bridge stood -28 years after Sept.19th became Black Monday, the day Sheet & Tube announced it would retrench at the Campbell Works. But this time, Denmeade returned not so much to relive the past,
but to peer into the future:
 

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony, he and other retired steelworkers watched as officials opened a new Walton Avenue bridge, christening the new span as the Steelworkers Bridge in honor of the men and women who spent most of their working lives together in the mills that once lined the Mahoning River.
 

The original Walton Avenue bridge was torn down during the 1980's, about the same time as most of the Mahoning Valley's mills shut down their steelmaking operations.
 

Walter Zaluski of Struthers, a former inspector at Sheet & Tube's cold-strip mill, echoed Denmeade, "I hope this will help, bring more interest and more jobs. Young people are leaving because there's nothing here," he lamented.
 

The $3.9 million Steelworkers Bridge is just one component of ambitious long term effort to redevelop 1,400 acres along the river, the land, known as the Mahoning River Corridor or Opportunity, spans the cities of Youngstown, Struthers and Campbell. The site is anchored on the west end by Performance place business park in Youngstown and CASTLO Industrial Park in Struthers to the east. The new bridge connects the site with Poland Avenue, which runs parallel to the river through Youngstown and Struthers.

"All the communities are tied into this thing," said Struthers Mayor Dan Mamula. "This is the evolution of a place." Other speakers at the ceremony included Campbell Mayor jack Dill; Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti; William Binning, chairman of the political science department at
Youngstown State University, and a representative for Gov. Bob Taft; and U.S. Rep. Timothy Ryan, D-17, Ohio.

The bridge was funded through a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration; $850,000 from the Mahoning County Economic Development Fund; $650,000 from the Ohio Department of Development; $230,000 from the Mahoning County Bridge Bond Levy Fund; $225,000 from the Mahoning County Recycling Division; $100,000 from the Ohio Rail Development Commission; $50,000 from a Youngstown Community Development Block Grant; and a $50,000 special federal grant.

A.P. O'Horo Co., Liberty, was the general contractor for the project; MS Consultants of Youngstown provided engineering and architectural services.
Mali1ula, chairman or the planning committee for the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity, said the organization has pumped a total of $7million worth of improvements into the corridor since 1999. These include the new bridge and all the environmental studies needed to remediate parcels of vacant brownfield land.. "Environmental issues are what has impeded development [of this land]," he stated.

The objective is to clean up the old steel land and prepare it for new use, Mamula said. Development officials envision a host of small companies locating along this three mile stretch and someday collectively employing hundreds of people.

Today, four companies - Casey Equipment, Quality Bar, Monroe Steel and Allegheny Heat Treating - operate from some of the structures that remain at the site of the Campbell Works. Together they employ 200.

During the bridge dedication, U.S. Rep. Ryan presented a check for $1.6 million to fund additional infrastructure improvements along the corridor. Part of the money will be used to rehabilitate internal roadways while another portion will be used to improve access from nearby Interstate 680.

The new bridge, the congressman noted, was built because of cooperation among municipalities, state and federal government and even support from neighboring counties. "The fact that I see Trumbull County officials here signals that when we work together, great things happen," Ryan said.

Ryan stressed the river corridor is a perfect fit for companies that could be created as a result of research and development work at Youngstown State University. "The level of success will be directly related to the level of expectations. We have to raise the bar," the congressman said.

More funds are forthcoming, officials said, such as a $565,000 state grant to remediate 46 acres near AstroShapes in Struthers, where coke ovens once stood.

"The money should be approved by Sept. 26," said Bob Cene Jr., president of AstroShapes.

Once the money is allocated, work could begin on the cleanup sometime in mid-2006. An additional $1 million is expected from the state through its Clean Ohio fund to support environmental remediation, Cene said.

Future projects include replacing an aging railroad bridge, Mamula added.

Such investments should improve the likelihood of landowners securing new tenants at the site, officials said.

"it's exciting," remarked Carrie Casey, president of Casey Equipment, a company that buys and sells used mill equipment. "We have a huge amount of truck traffic and it's so much easier" to have another access road to the site.

Casey equipment owns 1 million square feet of industrial space in several buildings once operated by YS&T. At the moment, about 250,000 square feet is leased. The bridge, along with other planned improvements to the corridor, bode well for luring more companies engaged in manufacturing or processing, Casey said.

Bill DeCicco, executive director of CASTLO Community Improvement Corporation, Struthers, said the improvements should spark more interest in buildings CASTLO has for lease. "Word is starting to get out," he said.