Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz stands next to the debris of the former Niles Theater and Reisman Furniture buildings in downtown Niles. Officials are seeking $3.5 million with a local match of $480,000 to go toward a potential urban entertainment property and a canoe and kayak launch on the Mahoning River through the state of Ohio’s Appalachian Community Grant program.

NILES — When envisioning the future of the site that once was home to the historic Niles Theater and Reisman furniture buildings, city officials turned their focus to downtown Cleveland.

Niles Mayor Steve Mientkiewicz said Cleveland’s Public Square, a park in the heart of the city that features a cafe, a natural amphitheater and an ice skating rink, is one of several locations officials looked at when considering the development of its planned “urban entertainment” space on South Main Street.

“It’s going to be a gathering space for individuals and a place to host small community events,” he said. “(It will be) an area that’s appealing as you come over the viaduct into downtown Niles.”

With the entire theater building on the ground, Mientkiewicz said the hope is for the urban entertainment area to be a prime spot for outdoor recreation. He suggested food trucks, farmers markets and small community events.

The mayor said the planned urban entertainment area is a project that matches the desires of residents based on feedback on the comprehensive plan.

Mientkiewicz said citizen input showed a desire for a safe and aesthetically pleasing space to gather and host downtown events, such as the Niles Rotary Club’s strawberry festival.

“So our vision for the downtown revitalization, specifically the theater footprint, fulfills those requests of the citizens,” Mientkiewicz said. “I want people to enter the downtown area over the viaduct and the first thing (they) see is something that is eye-catching … Something that really makes (them) say ‘Wow.’ We believe that with this plan for the urban entertainment area, we’re going to get that wow effect.”

Traveling north on Main Street overtop the Mahoning River and into downtown Niles, the site where the two bulky buildings once stood now sits as a pile of debris. Above the chunks of rubble, one can now see the President William McKinley Birthplace Home, something that previously was hidden.

Aaron Johnstone, D-2nd Ward and chairman of the city’s community development and neighborhood stabilization committee, called the sight of the torn-down theater building surreal.

“My entire life, it’s been there,” he said. “To me, it really symbolizes a sort of fresh start.”

Johnstone, 39, said he does not remember a time in his life when the theater was open.

The theater first began operating in the 1930s and ultimately closed in the 1960s. It has sat mostly empty and deteriorating for several years.

At one time, the stretch of buildings contained not only the theater and Reisman’s Store, but also Ward’s Costume Shop, a tattoo shop, offices for the Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, and a pool hall, among other things. Attorney Curt Bogen had offices in the building as well.

Previously, Mientkiewicz said he was told that in the 1980s, former city auditor Phil Rickard owned the building and used it as a haunted house.

“It is sad obviously,” Johnstone said of the demolition. “I’m a historian at heart, I love history, especially local history, I would’ve loved to see something done (with the building), but this was the right decision financially for sure. I look at it as finally, for the first time in my life, having an opportunity to have that as a purposeful location.”

Mientkiewicz said after a brief delay in the January demolition, which was conducted by Dore & Associates Contracting Inc. based out of Bay City, Michigan, the project seemed to pick up speed. Now, all that is left is the cleanup.

“We hope to have everything at the site itself cleaned up within the next couple weeks,” he said. “Then backfilled and seeded and strawed for the upcoming spring months.”

After the cleanup is finished, Mientkiewicz said the city will be awaiting word from Eastgate Regional Council of Governments regarding its application for $155.7 million through Ohio’s Appalachian Community Grant Program for several regional projects.

Niles is seeking $3.5 million with a local match of $480,000 to go toward the potential urban entertainment property and a canoe and kayak launch on the Mahoning River.

“We should receive notification in mid to late April about the award of that funding for the downtown revitalization project,” Mientkiewicz said. “We are anticipating that the region as a whole will be awarded funding for the 41 projects in the grant (application).”

Assuming the funding is awarded, the city will have to adhere to strict deadlines in terms of completing both the urban entertainment area and the canoe launch. Mientkiewicz said the city will have to have the funding earmarked by 2025 and the projects completed by 2026.

“We are under a time constraint according to Eastgate and the procured planner who is MS Consultants for our project,” he said. “The projects that were submitted for the Appalachia grant have to be viable, realistic and they can’t extend beyond 2026. We believe that the projects included in our downtown revitalization are viable, are able to be engineered, designed and completed by that 2026 deadline. There’s nothing that we can see that’s so extensive that it would extend beyond that deadline.”

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