Connellsville council reserves funds for park
By Patty Yauger Herald-Standard
CONNELLSVILLE ? Council agreed Wednesday to set aside $105,000 from the city?s 2008 state Community Development Block Grant funding for the tentative purchase of property and development of a park along Crawford Avenue.
Mayor Judy Reed and council members David McIntire and Terry Bodes voted to direct the Connellsville Redevelopment Authority to initiate negotiations with the 224 W. Crawford Ave. property owner ? DJB Associates of Connellsville ? for the option to purchase the half-acre property and to create a recreation activity fund for the eventual construction of a park.
The authority oversees the dispursement of the grant funds.
The now-vacant property is located at the northwest corner of the Crawford Avenue Bridge.
Council members Brad Geyer and Charles Matthews were absent from the special meeting.
The funding was originally set aside to purchase a lot at the Widewaters Commons shopping plaza. The lot was part of the approximate 9-acre property sold to Widewaters Development Co. in 2004. Its intended use was for the construction of a hotel. The city maintained an option to purchase the property should the developer be unable to secure a hotel contract.
Reed said that the option to buy back the property is a year away and the opportunity to purchase the Crawford Avenue site is immediate.
The site, too, she added, has been identified by numerous agencies now working with the city as a ?high value? property, including the Trail Town Program/Progress Fund; the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, among others.
?Council?s approval of these resolutions will pave the way for the first steps in possibly acquiring a key, anchor property for the Main Street revitalization,? said Reed.
?This location has been identified as the gateway.
?It will serve as a gateway to visitors to cross over the bridge into historic downtown and open the gateway view of the Youghiogheny River.?
During a recent Connellsville Community Design Workshop, it was recommended that a public plaza, restaurant or boutique hotel be built at the proposed park site.
The improvements would also facilitate access to the Youghiogheny River by those using the waterway for canoeing, kayaking or fishing, according to the workshop final report.
The workshop allowed for property owners in the downtown business district to work with Studio Three, a Muncie, Ind., architectural and planning firm, to create a vision of what they hoped the city would look like in years to come.
The design workshop incorporated other ongoing projects, including the multi-municipal plan being undertaken by the city, Connellsville Township and South Connellsville Borough, a feasibility study for Yough Park along with a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Gateway-to-Gateway study for the two-mile Yough Trail corridor within the city limits.
The proposed gateway trail ties the in-place Great Allegheny Passage to the east and west sides of downtown for access to businesses and restaurants and includes the Crawford Avenue bridge.
A cantilevered path would allow safe passage over the river for walkers or bikers, according to the workshop report.
McIntire said the development of the property would add ?class? to the downtown.
?It is the most important piece of property in the city limits,? he said.
Reed, meanwhile, said that council has worked for several years to bring the city to this point in the revitalization process.
?These resolutions are just one step on the long revitalization journey,? she said. ?This is a momentous time and I am very happy.?
Reed said the matter is now the responsibility of the redevelopment authority to negotiate with the property owner to secure the site and to work with the state Department of Community and Economic Development to redirect the funding and determine its eligibility.