There have been a lot of changes at the tract of land that sits at 4000 Sunset Boulevard as the decades have passed.

Residents of the region have watched during the past 60 years as the 84-acre site in Steubenville’s West End has gone from holding the abandoned Jefferson County Infirmary to the modern Eastern Gateway Community College, which brought affordable, high-quality higher education and job training to the region.

Now, it appears the property is nearing another transformation, one that likely will bring a new educational opportunity to the community while opening a large portion of land to potential economic development.

That was the good news that came out of a special meeting held Monday by the Jefferson County commissioners.

Commissioners reported that a tentative deal has been reached among the board, officials working to wind down the operations at EGCC and Youngstown State University which will bring the school back to life.

It did not come easy — the commissioners reported that the agreement was reached after a six-hour meeting. Under the terms of the tentative deal, the county would continue to hold all mineral rights to the property. More important, the commissioners said the deal would include a reverter clause that would return the building back to the county if it was no longer used for educational purposes.

A similar clause was put on the property in the mid-1960s, when the land was donated for the construction of what would be called the Jefferson County Technical Institute when it opened its doors on Sept. 23, 1968.

When completed, the deal will be a good one for the community.

Youngstown State will take over control of the main building and will repair and maintain it, paving the way for education to return there, something that stopped more than a year ago.

The surrounding property will remain under the control of the commissioners, who plan to open portions of it for economic development. That would include an area that sits at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and John Scott Highway, as well as the stretch of land that runs along John Scott from the campus to where the Applebee’s restaurant is located.

And, while there has been much speculation for more than a year about just what might eventually end up on some of that land, Commissioner Tony Morelli told members of Steubenville City Council Tuesday evening that Chick-fil-A had, indeed, expressed interest in locating a restaurant there.

Morelli and fellow commissioners Eric Timmons and Jake Kleineke have worked diligently to make the transformation possible. They also credit Assistant Jefferson County Prosecutor Shawn Blake and retired county Commissioner Dave Maple for their efforts to make the deal happen.

Knowing that an educational facility will return to the site is important — as the school evolved from Jefferson Technical College to Jefferson Community College to Eastern Gateway Community College (all of which will forever be fondly remembered under the collective name of Jeff Tech), there has been a constant shared by county residents, county officials and school staff and administrators: The desire to make sure all area residents have access to the schooling that can help them move on to a four-year college or training that can prepare them to enter the workforce.

The school also has been an economic plus for the region, attracting talented educators and administrators who had made their homes in the community.

All of that hit a roadblock when EGCC closed last year, but, if all goes as anticipated, the agreement with YSU could be in place by the end of September, commissioners explained.

While there’s great reason for optimism, there are still items that will need to be finalized, as Morelli cautioned Tuesday evening: “I feel very good about it, but until we get a signature on it, I never want to jump the gun,” he said.

That’s true, but it’s good for all area residents to know that the possibility is very real that a facility offering top-quality education could soon be open once again on that stretch of land that sits along Sunset Boulevard.