CASTLO News!

"Groundbreaking Ceremony for new Walton Avenue Bridge"

October 7, 2004
 

-Anticipate structure to be completed within a year-

JOURNAL

On Tuesday, September 28, 2004, ground was broken for the beginning of construction of new Walton Avenue Bridge that will link Poland Avenue with Walton Avenue with sites in the former Youngstown Sheet and Tube Campbell Works.  Struthers Mayor and MRCO Chair Daniel C. Mamula served as the Master of Ceremony and Dr. David Sampson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, provided the keynote address.  Other speakers included Mahoning County Board of Commissioners Chairman Ed Reese, Julie Michael-Smith, from the Governor's Regional Office of Economic Development, John Dill, Mayor of the City of Campbell, and Jeff Chagnot, Youngstown Economic Development Director.

"This project is truly the result of partnership and collaboration," stated Struthers Mayor and MRCO Chair Daniel C. Mamula.  "Without the selfless dedication, commitment and hard work of the MRCO Planning Committee members and the cooperation and assistance of our public partners and private partners like Casey Equipment and Castlo, the project could not have happened."

Funding for the nearly $4,000,000 project is being provided by the U.S. Economic Development Agency ($1,800,000), Mahoning County Economic Development Fund ($850,000), Ohio Department of Development ($650,000), Mahoning County Bridge Bond Levy Fund ($230,000), Mahoning County Division of Recycling/Green Team ($225,000), Ohio Rail Development Commission ($100,000), Youngstown Communiy Block Grant ($50,000), and a federal appropriation through representative Tim Ryan ($50,000).

The much-anticipated bridge will provide improved access to approximately 325 acres of industrial property in what is part of the 1400-acre Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity.  Currently, five businesses are operating in the immediate area. - Casey Company, Munroe, Allegheny Heat Treat, Quality Bar and Impact Metals.  With the completion of the bridge it is anticipated the current businesses attracted.  Plans are currently underway to improve the internal roadway in the Campbell and Struthers portions of the area.

The bridge will also enhance the development potential of the nearby forty-seven acre former coke work site in Struthers.  In 2003, the City of Struthers and Astro Development Ltd., entered into a partnership to environmentally assess, clean and redevelop the site.

The effort to secure the project was spearheaded by the Mahoning River Corridor of Opportunity Planning Committee.  The MRCO, as it's called, is a ulti-jurisdictional public and private sector planning committee.  Formed in 1996, its goal is to facilitate the sustainable redevelopment of the 1,400-acre river corridor that lies in Youngstown, Campbell and Struthers along the Mahoning River, in accordance with the master plan completed in 2002.

"The construction of the Walton Avenue Bridge is a major step in our collective effort to revitalize the corridor.  Added to the construction of the Center Street and SR 616 bridges, the environment assessments and site clean up activities completed, or underway, and the private sector investment in the corridor in recent years, a firm foundation for continued sustained development is being laid.  We must continue to build bridges of partnership, cooperation and collaboration amongst and between, the public and private sectors.  The challenges of brownfield development demand no less and the future of our community depends on it." stated Mayor Mamula.

Since 1999, the nationally recognized MRCO strategy foe brownfield redevelopment has also been instrumental in accessing over $1,400,000 from state/federal/local and private sources for planning, environmental activities and land acquisition in the river corridor.