EAST LIVERPOOL – Several projects that aim to improve the city’s image are moving forward in the first term of Mayor Bobby Smith.
“I’m more pleased than I could ever have dreamed about how these first nine months have gone,” Smith says. “I’m very, very, very happy with the outreach of help we’ve received. Everybody’s helping us from all levels.”
With the assistance of service-safety director Bill Jones, planning director Bill Cowan, their staffs and a host of community business leaders and volunteers, the city is trying to reverse the negative perception many people have.
Not afraid to pick up shovels or rakes themselves, Smith and Jones have been seen on city streets working alongside volunteers to spruce up the downtown.
The mayor says their actions have encouraged residents.
“I think that’s what people see,” Smith says. “The mayor is [cutting down weeds], so maybe I ought to do the same at my house.”
A city gets only one chance to make a good first impression, the mayor says, referring to a project to improve streets that lead to the high school that out-of-towners travel on their way to athletic functions.
He also praised the newly formed East Liverpool Beautification Society for its efforts, which include painting the historic lampposts downtown and other projects.
“It’s a work in progress,” Smith says.
Adding an officer to the county drug force and placing school resource officers in city schools have also been positive moves since the beginning of the year, Smith says.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Meanwhile, several economic development projects – some considered potential “game changers” for the city – are underway with others under consideration.
The renovation of the historic Thompson Building on Devon’s Diamond is progressing, with the $2.2 million project set to get started within the next few weeks, according to Smith.
In August, the Community Improvement Corp., owner of the building, initiated its sale for $1 to CE-Thompson Building LP, a limited partnership held by businessman Craig Cozza who is expected to invest $334,000 in the project.
In recent days, the CIC took the final step on the agreement, releasing to Cozza $86,000 in façade grant funding and $100,000 in ARPA funds for the project. A number of other tax credits and grants are also in place to help transform the 1842 building into a multi-use facility with retail, residential and office space.
Work is also moving forward at the former Buckeye Online School for Success building on Fifth Street, which was recently purchased for $625,000 by businessman Chuck Bailey, president and CEO of True North LLC of Chester, W.Va.
Calling Bailey “a ball of enthusiasm,” Smith says the businessman is “a bright spot that East Liverpool needed desperately.”
In June, City Council approved formation of a Community Reinvestment Area for True North, granting a tax abatement of $1.3 million on improvements planned for the building, where its offices will be relocated. Plans include converting the second through fifth floors into office space, an entrepreneur center and business incubator.
The Boss offices will remain in the building for now, with plans to relocate to the Thompson Building once that renovation is complete.
Bailey also figures prominently in another downtown business. He and several other local business people are taking over management of Cadence Vault, the 1800s-era former Potters Bank and Trust building on Fifth Street owned by Cozza, who spent more than $1.4 million renovating it into a gastropub.
Cozza will retain ownership of the building, with the new team taking over ownership and operation of the restaurant.
Bailey says Cadence Vault will be getting a more relaxed neighborhood bar-type atmosphere.
ROAD PROJECT
One of the major game changers officials are anticipating is the remake of state Route 39 through the East End, from Mulberry Street to the Pennsylvania state line, which will be accomplished with more than $29 million in state Rural Surface Transportation Grant funding.
Cowan says council has authorized the construction engineer on the project, and survey work should be completed soon.
CTL Engineering will do soil borings this month.
The city has some funding for the roadway portion of the project and is trying to secure matching funding for the roadway and installation of water and sewer lines.
More than $1 million for preliminary engineering is already earmarked by the state transportation department.
Plans announced last November to build a new filling station on an empty lot at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Mulberry Street in East End are also moving along, according to Smith. He says the developers have purchased all the properties needed for the project.
The station will include canopied filling areas for both gasoline and diesel as well as a convenience store.
The former Riverview Florist property purchased years ago by the city and later transferred to the CIC is also being considered by a union for a potential training center, according to Smith.
He mentioned a potential buyer is also eyeing the Little Building in the Diamond and the building’s owner, Amy Faulk, confirmed there is a pending offer.
Two long-vacant downtown buildings have also received attention in recent weeks, with repair work taking place on the former Crook’s Furniture Store and Elks Lodge, both on Sixth Street.
Workers there say they had been making repairs of both the interior and exterior for owner Adam Newbold. A message left for Newbold about his plans was not returned.
East Liverpool was also designated this year as an America 250-Ohio City as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary, due to its importance as the starting point for the formal survey of the Northwest Territory in 1785.
The city is planning a celebration on July 4, 2026, as part of the national observance. Speakers and activities are expected to be part of the day’s events.
Pictured at top: The Diamond area of downtown East Liverpool could soon be a hotbed of activity as renovation work begins on the historic Thompson Building, next to the Diamond Bar and Grill, which underwent a major renovation. The Little Building at the center could also have a new owner soon, with a purchase offer pending.