YOUNGSTOWN – City council will consider legislation Wednesday to permit the board of control to seek proposals to demolish the vacant South High Fieldhouse and enter into professional service agreements to take down the West Avenue Bridge and to improve downtown streets.

Legislation would allow the abatement and demolition of the fieldhouse at 1840 Erie St. along with outdoor bleachers at what used to be the South High School Athletic Complex.

At its Dec. 4 meeting, city council appropriated $301,000 from the city’s demolition fund for the work and agreed to spend $38,817 as its share of a state grant for the demolition project. The city’s portion was for planning, inspection and construction administration services.

The asbestos abatement and demolition, funded through the state grant, will not exceed $270,000.

The city plans to advertise for the work Tuesday and have the project start in March or April with completion in May or June, said Charles Shasho, the city’s deputy director of public works.

The city will sell the site to the Valley Legends Stadium Consortium, which is part of Valley Christian Schools.

The group has proposed to spend $9 million to construct a 3,000-seat stadium with a turf football field and track in two phases. Valley Christian is working to raise the money for the project.

Valley Christian expects to break ground in the summer and have the facility ready by spring 2026.

The fieldhouse opened in 1940 and was used by Youngstown State University, then Youngstown College, and South High School, which closed in 1993, for basketball games and numerous other events. The fieldhouse also hosted other activities and shows, but it hasn’t been used in about 15 years, falling into disrepair.

BRIDGE PROJECT

City council also will consider allowing the board of control to enter into a contract for up to $50,000 with a consultant to provide preliminary engineering services and environment work for the demolition of the West Avenue Bridge.

The bridge, abandoned for about 25 years, was awarded a $606,375 state grant in June 2023 to be demolished.

The bridge, near the city’s water department office on the West Side, was built nearly 100 years ago and goes across the Mahoning River.

The nearly 300-foot bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in the late 1990s though there are no blockades to stop anyone from traveling across it.

Shasho said the state historical society asked the city to look into possibly saving the bridge and turn it into a pedestrian and / or bicycle bridge. The city determined it would need so much repair work that it would lose its historic value, Shasho said. That caused some delays with this project.

The city has until June 2026 to award a contract for the bridge’s demolition, Shasho said. The project will be awarded before that, he said, but the actual demolition will likely take place in fall 2026. The bridge demolition work will take about 30 days, Shasho said.

DOWNTOWN WORK

City council is being asked to authorize the board of control Wednesday to advertise for proposals and enter into professional services agreements for construction administration, planning, inspection and materials management for improvement work to be done to Boardman Street between Walnut and Market streets and to Walnut Street between Commerce and Wood streets.

The agreements will be for up to $270,000.

The entire project will cost about $2.8 million with at least half paid by state and federal grants, Shasho said.

The project should start in the summer and be done by the fall, he said.

The work includes repaving, reducing vehicle lanes, adding diagonal on-street parking on Walnut Street, new crosswalks and curb ramps, improved lighting, landscaping and new traffic control signals.

The project also features a pedestrian walkway, or step street, on Walnut Street to better connect downtown to Youngstown State University.

It will be the second set of concrete steps with a few landings and landscaping tying Commerce to Wood streets, with a project on the west side of downtown near Phelps Street about 13 years ago to replace an aging walkway.

The site of the proposed pedestrian walkway is currently a steep asphalt hill near the Choffin Career and Technical Center at the top and a parking lot for the downtown YMCA at the bottom.