VIENNA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership will build four single-family houses on the site of the former Emerson Elementary School in Warren.

During its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday morning, the Western Reserve Port Authority Board of Directors approved accepting the donation of the site, 1619 Drexel Ave., from the Warren City School District, with which it has a property transfer agreement. The port authority then approved the sale of the property to TNP for $500 plus closing costs.

The four houses will represent the first new construction projects for TNP, which has focused on rehabilitating existing blighted properties or demolishing ones that couldn’t be repaired, said Matt Martin, TNP executive director. The houses will be between 1,200 and 1,400 square feet and priced between $140,000 and $180,000.

“The idea was always to get to this point,” Martin said. “The city had 1,500 vacant houses when we started in 2010. We had them all counted. We had them all assessed. We did this sort of triage approach to looking at what needs to be demolished, what can be renovated. That resulted in well over 1000 demos and well over 500 renovations. So this has always been building up to this point.”

Dam Removal

Also during the meeting, the port authority approved entering into a memorandum of understanding with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments to administrate and manage the removal of the Main Street dam in Warren, and to accept a grant from Eastgate to fund the entire project.

The port authority co-owns the dam with Cleveland-based steel manufacturer Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., said Anthony Trevena, WRPA executive director.

In addition, the port authority entered into a criteria engineer contract with MS Consultants Inc. in Youngstown for $179,347. The company will develop the design-build criteria and specifications for the work, for which the port authority will put out a request for proposals in about three months, said Randy Partika, WRPA project manager and development engineer.

Demolition should begin in August, he said.

“As you know, a clean, free-flowing river cleans itself,” said Jim Kinnick, Eastgate executive director.

The aim is to capitalize on the recreational opportunities created by removal of the dam and the toxins behind it, Kinnick said. Last year, several local communities along the Mahoning River were awarded funds from the Appalachian Community Grant Program to invest in such opportunities, and those projects are getting underway this year.

“It’s the right direction for the region,” he added. He also offered assurances that the dam removal would not negatively affect any businesses.

Trevena noted that the dam is near the 560-acre site that Kimberly-Clark Corp. purchased in 2023. “They’re fully on board and fully supportive of the project,” he said.

Other Business

In other business, the port authority awarded a $3,319,000 contract to B&B Contractors for work on the Mahoning County Veterans Service Center and accepted property and transferred it under its agreement with the Youngstown City School District.

Nine bidders submitted proposals for the veterans center project. “We look forward to starting this project next week,” Partika said.