Goodbye, YS&T offices; hello, V&M green space

By Don Shilling

The site will be used for green space at V&M’s request.

YOUNGSTOWN — In another step to secure the V&M Star Steel expansion, the city has been approved for a $630,000 state grant to demolish the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. office building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

The dilapidated structure, which has been vacant for 35 years, will be torn down, and the area will be used as green space, said T. Sharon Woodberry, city economic development director. There are no plans for new buildings on the site.

Woodberry said the demolition is important because V&M officials want the area around their Youngstown mill cleaned up.

“That was one of the desires of V&M. They wanted to see more stability and an overall improvement in area around them,” she added.

V&M is considering adding a $970 million expansion so its Youngstown mill can produce more seamless tubes. They are used mainly in oil and gas exploration.

The expansion is expected to create about 400 jobs.

In addition to the local site, V&M has said it is considering sites in Houston and Brazil for the expansion, but Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams has said he feels the Youngstown site is as competitive as any others.

The former Sheet & Tube building was used from 1920 to 1974 for company offices.

The money to tear it down is part of $28 million in funding announced Friday that will be used to clean up 16 old industrial sites around the state.

Money comes from the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund, which provides up to $3 million for projects that involve tearing down old structures, cleaning up the land and putting it to new use.

“Clean Ohio investments encourage business development and job creation by revitalizing our communities and previously-used industrial properties,” Gov. Ted Strickland said.

In other steps to prepare for the V&M expansion, Girard agreed to give 191 acres of industrial-zoned land to Youngstown for the expansion. V&M officials wouldn’t consider the site unless all of the property was in Youngstown.

The two cities would share a 2.75-percent tax generated by the new facility’s profits and employees’ income.

shilling@vindy.com