“It’s not hard you can hit, it’s how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.”

One of the best lines in the history of movies comes from the beloved boxing legend Rocky Balboa when he’s lecturing his son to get out of his slump. It’s a great line, and it’s the line the people of Youngstown need to remember as it tries to pick up the pieces — literally — from recent events that have knocked downtown to the canvas.

I, like all of you, had true grief and sadness over the explosion at the Realty Tower. Akil Drake seemed like so many young finance professionals I have seen come out of YSU and my alma mater Bowling Green: bright, ambitious and hard-working. And that building means so much to the many who witnessed the comeback of downtown Youngstown from its dormant state. The Realty Tower was the first large building to be converted into apartments downtown. It once housed one of the first new coffee shops to open in the city in ages, Joe Maxx. As a result, it became a forum of the new thinking that downtown is springing back to life.

This is also why I’m very proud that people like Councilman Julius Oliver, D-1st Ward, architect Paul Hagman and community leader Scott Schulick are driving the effort to stabilize the building and the situation. I’m no expert and not involved in any of this, but I suspect modern engineering can potentially save the building. If that is the case, it needs to be saved — and ASAP.

One of the proudest moments of my life was when my former employer Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi worked with the Red Cross to provide us chances to volunteer at Ground Zero during the months after 9/11. On one overnight Friday in November, I worked outside a worker relief center, and I’d see flatbed trucks move in, and within minutes move out with debris. This is why the site was cleaned up entirely by May 2002. In a similar vein, the Pentagon was rebuilt and dedicated one year after 9 / 11. There is no reason why Youngstown and City Hall can’t be pushing for the same movement with alacrity.

And while this restoration is occurring, it’s time to finish the street work downtown, so small businesses have a shot at survival. I still don’t understand why the city didn’t allow the small parking lot at Covelli to be used for people to park and have shuttle buses or summer interns with golf carts take people to their dining locale.

Finally, it’s time to think bold again about what’s next for downtown Youngstown. For me, two economic drivers come to mind.

First, it’s time for Youngstown State to work 24/7 to build a new world-class engineering building. When I worked in the Valley 15 years, ago, Moser Hall was ready to be put to scientific pasture. And it’s still there. Building a world-class engineering center, in a location between the core campus and downtown, would once again instill a sense of pride that the Mahoning Valley’s comeback as a STEM-based economic development region has a center at YSU and downtown Youngstown.

Secondly, the Valley should go all in, and consider bidding for a WNBA team to play at the Covelli Centre. Right now the WNBA is going through a surge in popularity — as it should. Yet the average attendance is still only 5,000 per game. In many of the cities they operate in, they have to compete with Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer, and overlaps in other pro sports. Instead of playing in an arena that is ½ empty, they could be playing in a world-class smaller arena like Covelli.

Having a WNBA team is a sign that the Valley is embracing and empowering women’s athletics as much as men’s. And let’s face it, with climate change meaning hotter and hotter summers, having an indoor event like women’s basketball is as cooling as the action can be red hot.

Last, I’ll say this type of use for the Covelli Centre is much more enticing than the proposed sports betting facility, which should not be housed in the same location as family-friendly entertainment like the Phantoms.

In 2015, the New York Times ran a story about the comeback of downtown Youngstown. It was true of Youngstown then and would be true of Youngstown soon. But it takes the community voicing its frustration with the slow rate of progress in stabilizing Realty and getting the streets rebuilt. Once those hurdles are met, and new initiatives lead to shovels in the ground and ribbons cut, then the people of the Mahoning Valley could look again at downtown with an overwhelming sense of Pride (Hmmm, what a great name for a WNBA team…).

Planey is a Mahoning Valley native who now serves as director for a New York City financial corporation. This column is based solely on his opinion and does not reflect the views of his employer.