Potential river park for Warren floated
Concept shows possibilities for Mahoning River
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WARREN -- Representatives from Fund for Warren's Future, the Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, MS Consultants and the city of Warren met Wednesday to discuss potential development opportunities along the Mahoning River within the city.
The meeting, which was at Covelli Enterprises headquarters on East Market Street, allowed the representatives, as well as city influencers, to see concepts and renderings for a potential river park, which could be funded through the state's Appalachian Community Grant Program.
"The reason we're involved is we've been working for quite awhile now with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments and MS Consultants on a variety of projects relevant to the city and the county," Dennis Blank, administrator for Fund for Warren's Future, said. "We were exposed to this idea of a riffle park, which was new to all of us."
The concepts proposed at the meeting showed the Mahoning River as a potential recreation hub in the city. Renderings showed the river with newly added riffle features to allow for activities like tubing or rafting, as well as installed beaches and added access points to the river.
Walter Pennington, a senior project manager with McLaughlin Whitewater of Denver, Colorado, described a vision of residents being able to take their desired watercraft from a river access point at Burbank Park down to Perkins Park.
"If my family went to Burbank, threw some tubes in or paddle boards, we'd have 3 miles to get to Perkins Park," he said. "We would get out, have lunch or dinner, then maybe shuttle back up."
Pennington said with other river projects he was worked on, shuttle services were provided both through municipal services and by private companies.
Kathy Zook, the Appalachian regional commission program manager with Eastgate, said the river park project was one of five major projects that Eastgate will be the lead applicant for regarding the Appalachian grant funds.
Katie Phillips, an urban planner with MS Consultants, said the main idea for the presentation was based on the pending removal of the Summit Street dam.
"Basically, we're talking about what life is like on the river after the Summit dam is removed," Phillips said. "Obviously, its not really ideal to talk about the river in its current state, but once the dam is removed which is scheduled for 2024, McLaughlin Whitewater, that is what they're looking at the river, once that dam is not there."
Phillips said when McLaughlin Whitewater did its feasibility study for the project concepts, it looked at what made the Mahoning River unique and what would make it an eligible site for water recreation after removal of the dam.
"People are drawn to rivers," Pennington said. "These rivers can be economic catalysts to draw people in, to help with tourism and keep communities in town instead of moving away."
Pennington said healthy rivers that are used for recreation can promote pride in a community. He said Warren is set up nicely due to the river's stability and its connection to the local parks.
Phillips also said the project's concepts could boost the city's economy. The consultants showed one rendering which would connect Perkins Park to the peninsula project. It could consist of 100,000 square feet of office and retail space and traditional hotel with meeting space among other things.
"That type of development, which could be looking like commercial or retail space, potential restaurants, adjacent to a river park where there are people playing and utilizing it, the opportunities are endless," she said.
When Eastgate initially was considering a grant application, Phillips said it looked at the entire span of the Mahoning River from Newton Falls to Lowellville. She said the funding needed for a project of that size was not realistic. She said it was determined that Warren was the ideal site for a park on the river.
"That is another reason why Warren was selected as the opportunity to do this study on," Phillips said. "A lot of communities along the river in Mahoning and Trumbull County, they don't own the land against the river… (Warren) owns the land that's on the river."
The officials said one of the main hopes for the potential river project would be that it would generate more tourism in the city.
Eddie Colbert, the safety / service director in Warren, said the potential river project combined with other expected local projects could make the city a top destination in the Mahoning Valley.
"I can't think, in the valley, of a more exciting place that I'd rather be in right now than Warren, Ohio, with all the opportunity that is being presented to us," Colbert said.
Questions were raised about how much the river park project would cost. No clear answer was given except for Phillips who said it would likely be "several millions of dollars." She said there will be conversations between the parties through the next several days regarding how the project application would be phased.
"We will communicate that with the city in the next several days and have that considered with the official application that we'll have Eastgate consider," Phillips said.