Ground broken for new community learning center

STEUBENVILLE -- A new community learning center in the North End is one step closer to reality, following Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony for the Steubenville North Choice Neighborhoods Plan's early action project.

The outdoor, multi-purpose center will consist of new sidewalks and an open pavilion at the corner of Franklin Avenue and North Fifth Street, near East Garfield Elementary School, according to informational posters from the Steubenville North Choice Neighborhoods planning team. Development will repurpose a vacant lot owned by Steubenville City Schools and donated to the planning team for use in the project.

During school hours, the center will be used for activities by East Garfield, and the public can use it during non-school hours. The center will be maintained by Steubenville City Schools and members of the public.

Daysha Wade, one of three community ambassadors for the planning team, noted during the ceremony that personalized, engraved bricks are being sold for the early action project site. Development will also see an additional lot directly across North Fifth Street from East Garfield repurposed as a garden space, and North Fifth Street itself is planned to be painted with street art.

Completion of the learning center is set for October, though the project is waiting on approval through the State Historic Preservation Office before construction can proceed.

Following a year and a half of planning, the early action project's groundbreaking was a jovial moment for co-grantees the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority and city of Steubenville, which received a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development planning grant last year in the amount of $500,000, a fifth of which is paying for the early action project -- the city matched that with another $100,000.

The two are collaborating with planning firm COLLABO Planning and Design to create an application worthy of HUD's Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant, which offers between $30 and $50 million. Applications will be accepted near the end of the year, and the planning team is hoping for an award to redevelop 206 JMHA-owned low-income housing units and other areas of opportunity in the North End into new mixed-income developments.

The early action project itself is meant to demonstrate implementation grant applicants' commitment toward improving the community, according to Chris Petrossi, Steubenville’s urban projects director.

Eliza Kelley is the president and founder of EMIT Training Consultants, which handles the plan's day-to-day operations in collaboration with JMHA and the city. She said after the ceremony that clear communication and community engagement are key to the plan achieving its goal of bettering the neighborhood, housing and the lives of residents.

"This was a wonderful event," Kelley said. "It culminated in the future of what we want to see for our community. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of this."

Tuesday's community meeting was also an opportunity for the planning team to gain more input on the overall plan, with multiple "catalyst" projects listed on boards for attendees to view. Individuals were given fake money which they could use to vote on which projects they want prioritized in the final concept, which will be submitted to HUD.

Planning team member Patrick Brunner said the catalyst projects were derived from various input stages, including the initial needs assessment survey for JMHA residents in the North End. Likened more to "initiatives," the projects are meant to address a certain need that residents want filled by the plan, Brunner said.

The initiatives included improving neighborhood health care services, generating a community center, making streets safer, offering money management or home ownership training, developing safe walking routes for school students, bolstering work-related transportation opportunities, fostering engagement in faith-based organizations, creating senior assistance services, supporting child and disabled adult care, creating fresh food access and improving job opportunities.

Each initiative identified potential resources, as well as lead and supporting partners. Some listed partners have already been involved in the planning process, while others have yet to be approached, Brunner said. Each partner will be invited aboard the initiative to address the given need according to its unique capabilities, and what each partner intends to do to that end will be fleshed out in the final concept.

The projects with more will be prioritized more heavily in the concept. Encouraging residents to rank their needs is important because no budget is unlimited, Brunner said, adding that other initiatives may come later, but for now, residents should focus on what's most important.

Currently, the planning team has three concepts for how a redeveloped North End could look, each with a different number of housing units and corridors to other areas of development in the city. The planning team is collecting residents' feedback on these concepts, Brunner said, and the best of each element will be combined into a single "greatest hits" concept for submission.

An overall draft concept has been made viewable on steubenvillechoice.com, Brunner said, and residents can leave comments on the concept directly on the website.

Steubenville's final plan is set for completion in November. The planning team is in the late stages of refinement and structuring, while undergoing preferred developer procurement.