WARREN — The site of the now-demolished St. Joseph Riverside Hospital shortly will go green.

AARP Ohio, or the American Association of Retired Persons, announced that it awarded to Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership a 2023 Community Challenge grant to help make over the former hospital site.

The neighborhood partnership is receiving $20,000 for this project at the Tod Avenue NW site, said Matt Martin, TNP executive director. The TNP project will convert the vacant property into a greenspace for older adults by installing trees, landscaping, a walking path and lighting.

The former hospital and eyesore in the area sat vacant for 30 years. In partnership with the city of Warren, TNP secured funding in 2022 to demolish and clean it for future use, AARP Ohio stated.

A $3.4 million grant for the environmental remediation and demolition was awarded through the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program.

“We’ve been here since the late 2010s and the former St. Joe’s hospital is by and large one of the things we’ve heard most loudly about from residents to address,” Martin said.

Working with the city of Warren, Martin expressed excitement about the “long overdue” demolition of the building and now putting in a “placeholder recreation area.”

“This passive greenspace allows us to do something to stabilize the site and make it useful in the interim of what was there before, and what may become of the space in the future,” Martin said.

Over the next several months, TNP will be helping to turn the former hospital site into an area for recreational use.

The project will include providing landscaping, trees, a walking path, and lighting at the site. The emphasis will be on community engagement, and several community events and meetings will take place to collect input and educate residents on the safety and future use of the site.

“We’re going to talk to the public about what the site will look like. We’re interested in making it useful and productive — particularly for senior residents being that it’s an AARP grant,” Martin said.

This group of grantees is the largest group to date with $3.6 million awarded among 310 organizations nationwide, AARP stated.

“AARP Ohio is committed to working with local leaders to improve residents’ quality of life through tangible changes,” said state Director Holly Holtzen. “We are proud to collaborate with this year’s grantees as they make immediate improvements in their communities to jumpstart long-term change, especially for Ohioans 50 and over.”

AARP Community Challenge grant projects will be funded in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Projects must be completed by Nov. 30.

The grant program is part of AARP’s nationwide Livable Communities initiative, which supports the efforts of cities, towns, neighborhoods and rural areas to become great places to live for people of all ages, especially those age 50 and older. Since 2017, AARP Ohio has awarded 36 grants and $535,378 through the program to nonprofit organizations and government entities across the state.

AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership is a 501(c)3 community development organization serving the neighborhoods of Warren.