West End Neighborhood Improvement Plan celebrates milestone, not finish line

"It's going to be a long few years yet, not only here, but for the rest of the city that we're focused on in different areas ... It's a great day."

Hahn is a key driver in the public-private partnership that began in 2019 and has resulted in the West End Neighborhood Improvement Plan.

Local elected officials, business leaders and community leaders gathered outside Dairy Queen at 237 Glessner Ave. to celebrate the completion of the $1 million first phase of the multi-phase project.

"You're starting to see things come together. That's very good. We are looking forward to the next stage and hopefully we continue to move things forward ... here and downtown," Hahn said.

Construction work began in late March on phase one, a streetscape beautification plan to improve Glessner Avenue between Wood Street and Sturges and Arthur avenues.

The first phase included updating, upgrading and/or replacing sidewalks, installation of new street lighting and improved/update crosswalks (including ADA-compliant curb ramps), as well as retaining walls and more decorative elements, such as tree lawns and more.

The overall neighborhood plan, created by EDGE Landscape, Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, is aimed at improving an area whose geographic boundaries are generally Marion Avenue/Park Avenue West to the west and north; South Main Street to the east; and Glessner Avenue to the south.

Adrian Ackerman, the city's community development and housing director, credited many of those involved in the effort, including Hahn, who helped form an advisory group three years ago to raise private funds needed for the engineering and design of the project.

Ackerman pointed to new private investment already occurring in the target area because of the plan, both residential and commercial.

"It's really doing a lot of what we had hoped for. The accessibility is there. The increased safety with the street lighting and then, of course, the private investment," Ackerman said. "This has been a project like we have never done before."

In addition to the private funds raised through the Richland Community Development Group, the project has largely been funded through the city's federal Community Development Block Grant funds.

Mansfield Mayor Tim Theaker said the federal funds had been used in a "shotgun" pattern in the past.

"You just spent money all over. There wasn't really a showplace that you could start and build from. The suggestion (in 2019) was let's pick an area and concentrate the money, concentrate the improvement, and then let it grow out from there," Theaker said.

"Everyone agreed this would be a great corridor to start with."

Private funds, CDBG dollars and other grants sought will be used to fund the next phases of the project. Ackerman said phase two began about six weeks ago.

"We're trying to determine costs at this point. Of course, that's got to be our next step. The next phase we want to do is engineering and architecture for the remainder of Glessner Avenue," she said.

Ackerman said the goal is to have that work done to allow for additional construction as funds become available.

The actual remaining work on Glessner will be done in three phases, according to Ackerman, including from Wood Street to Marion Avenue, Arthur to Mulberry Street, and then Mulberry to Main Street.

She said rough cost estimates for engineering and architecture will be around $400,000 with construction costs in the $4 million range.

"So we do have a long road ahead of us. HUD funding trickles in. We do plan on using that. But that's where we will be looking next ... to make sure we can get everything we need to continue this plan," Ackerman said.

She also praised OhioHealth and Vinson Yates, president of OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital at 335 Glessner Ave., who also helped launch and drive the effort.

Like Hahn, Yates said the Tuesday celebration marked a successful start to the overall project.

"When I think about this community, this is a step, nothing more than a step. As I have said to many people here, unless we help the whole neighborhood grow and expand, this will just be a moment in time," Yates said.

"Our opportunity is to do something much deeper than that. It's going to require a lot more than money. It's going to require pride. It's going to require a lot of things from the city ... and from all of us to lean into this.

"What do I expect out of this? I expect a corridor that everybody in this community can be proud of," Yates said.