WARREN, Ohio – A $635,520 remediation grant should remove the last barrier to renovation of the former Trumbull Fitness Center, a Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership official said.
The grant was among four Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program grants totaling over $2.9 million awarded Thursday to three land bank organizations in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties by the Ohio Department of Development.
The department awarded two grants to Trumbull County Land Reutilization Corp. In addition to the funds for the Trumbull Fitness project, the land bank received $300,000 for supplemental Phase II assessments at the farmer Van Huffel Tube Co. building on Dietz Road, which is owned by Trumbull Industries.
Also receiving funds was Mahoning County Land Reutilization Corp., which was awarded $1 million in cleanup and assessment funds on behalf of the YMCA of Youngstown. The Columbiana County Land Reutilization Corp. received $999,936 for cleanup and remediation activities at the former Miller Holzwarth property in Salem.
The department awarded a total of $61 million for environmental assessment and remediation projects in 75 counties, according to a state news release.
Following an initial announcement in 2017, representatives of Smythe Property Advisors in Cleveland and Cleveland’s Gateway Group detailed plans for a $40 million project to develop apartments in what had been downtown Warren’s YMCA, which later became Trumbull Family Fitness. The project is expected to involve renovation of the existing building into apartments and construction of an addition to accommodate more apartments.
The $635,520 grant will cover asbestos and lead paint removal inside the former fitness center, according to Gillian Costantino, property intake and environmental programs coordinator with TNP, which manages the land bank. Project developers have told her that removal of the contaminants is “the last barrier to the overall renovation,” she said.
“It shouldn’t take incredibly long in relation to their overall project. I’m hoping to get it started pretty quickly,” she continued. The developers already have their quotes from contractors for the work, and TNP has a quote for the consulting.
She also said she did not anticipate the testing to take long at the former Van Huffel site. Grant funds will be used to perform supplemental Phase II environmental assessments, including soil, gas and underwater sampling to determine the extent of contamination and support development of a remediation action plan. Planned expansion supported by environmental work will create 53 new jobs, according to the state news release.
“We’re going to add new manufacturing and fabrication equipment there. We’re adding cabinet assembly equipment and stone fabrication for stone vanity tops and kitchen tops,” said Sam Miller, Trumbull Industries president.
Trumbull Industries already manufactures and distributes from the 420,000-square-foot building, and once the assessment is done, the company will seek remediation funds to address any issues uncovered. “We’ve done significant cleanup in this property, and it is unlikely that we will find anything of significance,” he said.
The $1 million Mahoning County grant will support redevelopment of the unrenovated upper floors and basement at YMCA of Youngstown’s downtown branch into transitional housing for youths aging out of foster care and a new youth development center.
Youngstown YMCA has been “contemplating this for some time,” said Deb Flora, executive director of Mahoning County Land Reutilization Corp., also known as Mahoning County Land Bank.
“This was the right opportunity to pursue it, and I’m just so happy today that this is going to go forward,” she said.
“This transformational investment in the Central YMCA is about far more than renovating a building – it is about creating hope and opportunity for the future of Youngstown,” said Beth Scheller, YMCA of Youngstown president and CEO. “For more than 142 years, the YMCA has responded to the evolving needs of our community, and this project will allow us to expand our impact by creating safe transitional housing for young adults aging out of foster care and new spaces dedicated to youth development.”
The funds awarded in Columbiana County will support asbestos abatement, demolition, underground storage tank closure and environmental remediation activities at the 2.8-acre Miller Holzwarth site for redevelopment as a shovel-ready industrial property, according to the state release.
“There is quite a bit of demand,” said Robert Ritchey, executive director of the Columbiana County Land Reutilization Corp. With the growth of Salem Industrial park, the remediation project represents “a prime opportunity to develop land right there off of West State Street.”
The site is on the western edge of downtown Salem, which is experiencing “a lot of growth right now,” and across the railroad tracks from another brownfield remediation project that is taking place, where a company already is looking to expand, he said. The remediation contractor already has been signed and “probably hoping to start work this summer.”
Pictured at top: The former Trumbull Fitness Center building in Warren.