Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Volunteers, from left, Dave Hall, Patty Leon-Games and Linda Albright, all of Warren, work together to plant a tree during the community tree planting event Saturday at Riverside Park. The park is at the site of the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital on the city’s northwest side.

WARREN — Northwest side residents and other volunteers on Saturday began turning the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital site into a future park oasis with the planting of nearly 100 trees on the approximately 52-acre lot.

“This area has been advocated for improvement by people living in this neighborhood for decades,” said Lydia Lynch, food access coordinator for Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.

TNP, along with Plant Ahead Ohio and AARP, sponsored Saturday’s tree planting event.

After nearly a quarter of a century, the demolition of former hospital was completed earlier this year. All that remained Saturday morning was a grass-covered empty lot.

“The addition of these trees will make this open field a park that neighbors will use for recreation, relaxation and having a sense of pride,” Lynch said.

Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership was able to obtain a $20,000 Community Challenge grant from AARP to make what is now called Riverside Park usable. The grant must be used by the end of November.

The goal of the project is to engage residents by creating a recreational space within walking distance of the neighborhood with an emphasis on older adult usability. Future plans include adding a walking path, benches, picnic tables and a pollinator garden.

TNP is seeking donations to add more trees to the site. Anyone interested in adopting a tree can contact Lynch at 330-647-6301, Ext. 8.

“Making this something that is for the neighborhood is really important,” Lynch said. “This is something that people can walk to and come and enjoy a picnic.”

The trees were purchased from Troyer Tree Farm in nearby Orwell. There are 20 different species of mostly native trees planted in the park.

Volunteers at Saturday’s tree planting ranged from Brooklyn Yuhasz, who is barely big enough to hold a shovel, to older men and women who waited a long time for the former hospital to be torn down.

Warren Councilman Andrew Herman, D-2nd Ward, was out with his wife, Amelina, planting trees.

“I was born in St. Joseph Hospital, so I wanted to be a part of what is happening here, both as a councilman and a resident whose family lived in this area for many years,” he said. “Our children will be joining us. I want them to be involved, so years from now they’ll be able to tell their children they planted some of the trees in this park.”

Anita Bankston, a southwest side city resident who formed the nonprofit Paradise Gardens, volunteered to plant trees because she knows and has worked with many of the other several dozen volunteers who showed up Saturday morning despite cloudy skies and chilly temperatures.

“We all want to help beautify the city,” Bankston said.

Dan Galati of the Akron area was there, saying he wants to give back to the community.

“I feel it is important to come out to help beautify the community,” he said.

The Trumbull County Land Bank owns the property, but eventually ownership will be transferred to the city for maintenance of the park.

TNP, in conjunction with the Trumbull County Land Bank and the city of Warren, received funding through the Ohio Department of Development in 2022 to demolish the hospital that closed in 1996.

It was two grants obtained by the city and TNP that led to $5.9 million demolition and cleanup of the former hospital site.

The first building of the former hospital complex was built nearly 100 years ago in 1923. It grew over the years to a roughly 274,000-square foot complex of 12 interconnecting buildings. Humility of Mary Health Partners operated the hospital until about 1995, when it relocated to Warren General Hospital on the city’s east side.

The facility had several owners after Humility of Mary sold it.

In 2015, the city condemned the building, but it would take years of lobbying and creative thinking before it could secure the needed funding to begin demolishing what had become known as a longstanding eyesore.

While the hospital served an important role in the city’s history, its significant deterioration in the years after its closing destabilized the surrounding residential neighborhood and the city as a ßwhole.