New Look for Old Building on South Side of Youngstown - WFMJ


Another improvement project has been completed in the ongoing revitalization on the south side of Youngstown.

What used to be a rundown building at 2905 Glenwood Avenue has been transformed with bright new paint provided by a grant from Sherwin Williams and Keep Ohio Beautiful.

"Now it's vibrant, people can see it, it's something that attracts people to come to the building," said Jennifer Jones of Green Youngstown, who applied for the grant.

Sherwin Williams provided all of the paint and supplies and volunteers from the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp did the work. Making grants available for commercial buildings is a new effort by Sherwin Williams.

"We're looking to expand what we do in the community to make a bigger impact and help businesses as well as individuals," said Sherwin Williams representative Angela Flak.

The clean up campaign on Glenwood also includes a city maintained park with playground equipment and a basketball court instead of an abandoned building. Public art installations also make the neighborhood more inviting. And a Bottom Dollar grocery store was another welcome addition to the commercial corridor.

"Glenwood is one of our most prominent corridors it leads over to Boardman and gets people in and out of our city every day, hundreds and thousands of people," Jones said.

The owner of Soul Food Sensations in the newly painted building says people are noticing all of the positive changes.

"When our patrons come into the restaurant they like seeing the new colors, they think the neighborhood is coming back with all the murals that's being painted in the neighborhood, all the clean up, the people in the neighborhood like what's going on" said restaurant owner Lillian DeFrance.

Jones says the city is hoping for more grants in the future for other community improvement projects.

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