City council wants further talks before considering a proposal to spend up to $120,000 to buy the former Mary Haddow Elementary School for potential development.
Council decided Monday to refer the request to authorize the board of control to buy the building at 2800 Oak St. Extension from the school district to its community planning and economic development (CPED) committee.
Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward and head of the CPED committee, said: "We need to have more conversations about it. A lot of our citizens want to see some of these school buildings come down. People want to make sure we've got a cohesive plan in place as far as brownfield grants. I'm all for gathering the land. I think it's a great idea, but I just want to make sure there's a plan in place to take these buildings down."
The CPED committee next meets Sept. 14, two days before the next council meeting.
The Youngstown City School District closed Mary Haddow Elementary to classroom instruction in 2008 and then used it for records storage. It's been empty for years.
The city wants to use the East Side building for senior citizen housing with the hope that will spur other housing projects to be built nearby, said DeMaine Kitchen, the city's director of community planning and economic development.
Kitchen said: "These buildings have been plaguing our neighborhoods for many decades. We're in a position right now to take advantage of remediating, doing something about it. The district is not in a position to do it so we're not doing this as a favor to the district, but as a service to the citizens."
An appraisal of the property in May 2025 put its value at $225,000.
The board of education declared the property as surplus in April.
The legislation states the sale price at $120,000, but Kitchen said when council acts on it, it should be amended to be up to that amount because the city will spend about $100,000 to buy the property.
The city is also obtaining six other school properties for up to $1 from the district, Kitchen said.
Those are not in as good of a condition as Mary Haddow Elementary, he said.
The properties that are empty because the structures were demolished are at the former John White and West elementary schools.
School district properties with buildings still on them that the city will obtain are Adams School, Rutherford B. Hayes Middle/Junior High School, Princeton Junior High School and Sheridan Elementary School.
Some of the structures could be demolished by the city's street department, but most -- including Adams and Princeton -- are going to require funding, likely through the state for brownfield properties, Kitchen said.
"We're looking at repurposing and not necessarily demolition," Kitchen said. "That plan is fluid. It's in the process. The plan is to acquire the land so we can develop plans for redevelopment."
Councilman Pat Kelly, D-5th Ward, asked what would happen if the city couldn't obtain funding for demolition.
Kelly said: "If we don't get that, who does that fall on? The city? Because I know those buildings are filled with asbestos. Have we done environmental studies on any of those buildings that are standing?"
Kitchen said any plans for the buildings would be done with the approval of city council.
"This is just the first step -- acquiring them so we can control them," Kitchen said. "A lot of funding that's available for demolition and repurposing of buildings, we have to own them. This is not going to preclude us from doing our due diligence and coming back to you with a plan. This is a basic step."
PARKING ORDINANCE
Council on Monday referred an amendment to the city's parking ordinance to its parking committee regarding a ban on the parking of vehicles on the front yard of a residential property.
Council moved a proposal last month to its parking committee to amend the city's general ordinances to enact the ban of parking vehicles on lawns. That initial parking ban was defeated 6-0 Monday by council. Councilwoman Cynthia McWilson, D-6th Ward, was absent from Monday's meeting.
Council's parking committee never discussed the first proposed ban before rejecting
OTHER BUSINESS
Council voted 6-0 Monday to sign an agreement with the Ohio Department of Development for a $1,278,268 grant.
The funding, approved in June by the State Controlling Board, is for 950 linear feet of new roadway from the intersection of U.S. Route 62 and Albert Street and running northeast to North Garland Avenue. The road would provide highway access to about 30 acres of land, including the site of the former McGuffey Plaza, on the city's East Side.
The state grant is for 75% of the project's cost. The city will seek additional funding sources to cover the other 25%, said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works.
U.S. Route 62, which connects to Interstate 680 and state Route 711, now ends at Albert Street. The project would extend it so it continues onto North Garland Avenue.
The former McGuffey Plaza, a shopping center built in 1954 and also called the McGuffey Mall, is located near the intersection of McGuffey Road and North Garland Avenue.
It was built in 1954 with businesses starting to leave in the late 1990s. It was empty by 2007 and demolished in 2014. It is owned by the Western Reserve Port Authority.
Council also voted 6-0 to permit the board of control to sign off on a state Residential Economic Development District (REDD) grant for up to $2.5 million to replace or install streets, sidewalks, water and sewer lines, lighting, crosswalks and trees.
The work will be done at the various locations in the city where the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. has built or is finishing the construction of houses as well as the proposed 120-unit affordable housing apartment complex at the site of the former Woodside Receiving Hospital from Wallick Development LLC.
To read the full article from The Vindicator, click here.
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