YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The public will have the opportunity this weekend to get a firsthand look at the site of the ill-fated Chill Can manufacturing campus on the East Side.
The city, which acquired the majority of the 21-acre property in February 2025 following a lengthy legal battle with M.J. Joseph Development Co., will open the site for a community open house. City staff will be in attendance for safety and to answer “basic questions” about the site, a news release issued Wednesday morning from Mayor Derrick McDowell’s office stated.
“For too long, our community has seen this property through a negative lens and secondhand information,” McDowell said in the release.
“This open house is all about allowing our community to see it for themselves” and “to dream alongside of one another in full transparency,” he continued. “Community engagement means giving folks a peek inside to begin building trust for its new future.”
The open house will run from 3-6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Access will be limited to designated areas of the property to ensure safety, and visitors are advised to wear sturdy footwear.
The North Lane Avenue property is accessible only via Himrod Avenue.
According to the release, the event this weekend is “part of the administration’s ongoing commitment to open communication and public involvement as conversations about the property continue.” It will provide “an opportunity for community members to tour the site, view its current condition and see the potential this property holds for the future.”
In November 2016, Joseph Co. International broke ground on the proposed $18 million research and manufacturing campus project, promising more than 200 jobs. Ultimately, just a handful of warehouse buildings were constructed on the site.
City support for the project included a $1.5 million site development grant, a tax abatement and land acquisition. Last year, the city submitted the sole bid of $1.37 million to acquire 86 parcels through a sheriff’s sale after a court approved foreclosing on the property.
The site is among the properties identified in a cooperative agreement between the city and the Western Reserve Port Authority that was amended earlier this year. Port authorities in Ohio can negotiate directly with developers on city-owned properties without the sites having to be put out for public bidding.