EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – The recent sale of the New Castle School of Trades property on Fifth Street downtown is not expected to bring about any changes to the school’s operation – unless it’s growth.
Alta Succession, a Delaware limited liability company, recently acquired the school building and property in East Liverpool for $1.29 million, as well as the school’s main campus in New Castle, Pa., for $3.01 million and the satellite facility in Pulaski for $500,000, according to Lawrence County Register and Recorder’s Office records.
Nina Chen, owner of Alta Succession, said the school will offer the same programs and instructors. She said she is excited to look at ways to expand enrollment and do more to partner with area schools to attract students.
“The goal is to grow steadily, maintain our graduation rate and high employment rate,” Chen said. She added that the school currently has a high employment rate among its students.
The buildings that make up the East Liverpool campus formerly housed Ogilvie’s Department Store and Woolworth’s 5&10 before falling into disrepair. The buildings had collapsed basement ceilings as well as other problems.
After purchasing the buildings, it took New Castle School of Trades four years and nearly $8 million to bring the abandoned buildings back into use. The buildings were combined into one campus site.
The project resulted in a 30,000-square-foot facility offering welding, HVAC and industrial training. While plans initially called for a truck driving course, that instead remained at the New Castle location.
According to Dennis J. Corrado, corporate director, since opening in 2016, more than 500 students have graduated from the campus, which he said “was certainly important to the community.”
Corrado said that when the two retail buildings were abandoned, it was hard to imagine they’d ever be useful again.
“The commitment on our part was to help the community, and I think we did that. We’ve all done our jobs,” he said. He added that it is again favorable for young people to take a rewarding career path other than college.
Chen agreed. “There’s been a shift with how young people look at the trades. People realize these are phenomenal jobs. For many of our graduates, they are the first in their family to go beyond high school graduation,” she said.
The school is also filling a huge economic need, according to Chen. “Our aim is to produce graduates who can hit the ground running,” she said.
The need for trade school graduates will never diminish, Corrado said. “They’re never going to be without work.”
The demand for the school’s HVAC graduates has been especially high. “We’re told, ‘Whatever grads you’ve got, we want,’” he said.
Pictured at top: The New Castle School of Trades campus in East Liverpool.