[Steubenville] Various news

[seicer]

Market getting a makeover

Notes --

1. The city is hoping that a new name and location for the farmers market will help revitalize the 25-year-old market. The market will take place on Thursday as before, but the location will be moved to Fort Steuben Park. It was also renamed the City Market for 2007.

1a. The goal is to coordinate it with Fort Steuben's Concert in the Park series.

2. Traditionally, the market was open from 7 AM to 3 PM, but it will stay open till 6:30 PM -- when the Concert in the Park series starts.

3. The city has also installed an Internet wireless network around the park to lure in office workers and residents alike.

Article information: "Market getting a makeover, By DAVE GOSSETT, Herald Star [steubenville], May 07, 2007"

[seicer]

Looking into the future

Notes --

1. The city has $2.7 million after it sold the Belleview golf Course and the University Blvd. "Green Strip" to spend on recreational facilities at Belleview, Beatty and Jim Wood parks, and other "tot lots" throughout the city.

2. The city will produce conceptual drawings of the proposed changes, and request public comments.

3. Proposals include --

3a. Beatty Park:

3ai. A disc golf course in Beatty Park that is "nearing reality". It is an 18-hole course with a $5,600 price.

3aii. Convert the maintenance building at Beatty Park into a welcome center.

3aiii. Beatty Park become a nature preserve. this would include hiking paths and possibly a bike path.

3b. Jim Wood Park would be realigned under the conceptual plans.

3bi. This stems from when the city sold a portion of the park to the Steubenville Board of Education for the construction of a new elementary school. The restrooms and shelter house were moved to the north end of the park.

3bii. Tentative plans call for the rebuilding of the baseball field.

3biii. Other plans include a new playground next to the baseball field, a perimeter walking path, tennis court, basketball court, and a splash pool.

3biv. A new roadway could be constructed to allow easier access to the playground and shelter area. Lighting would make the walking path safer.

3c. Belleview Park --

3ci. The new filtration plant for the city eliminated a shelter picnic area and playground.

3cii. A starter's office at the golf course could be converted into a new shelter house. The baseball fields could also move or be upgraded.

3ciii. The parking lot could be "softened" with more vegetation.

3civ. Basketball courts could be added, and the tennis courts would be rehabilitated.

3cv. A skating park could be added, which could be used as a skating rink in the winter.

3cvi. A walking path could be constructed.

Article information: "Looking into the future, By DAVE GOSSETT, Herald Star [steubenville], Saturday, May 12, 2007"

[seicer]

Property means more growth for university

Notes --

1. Franciscan University of Steubenville, a Catholic church based university, is acquiring the Belleview Park Golf Course and a strip of land between University Blvd. and Franklin Ave.

2. The university is currently growing -- currently at 2,400 students but expected to rise to 2,600.

3. The university has been facing challenges in housing its students. A new residence hall, Sts. Louis and Elizabeth Hall, is being completed near the center of campus. The J.C. Williams campus center was also recently expanded and renovated.

3a. The hall adds 179 new beds, which has 100 beds already filled for the 2007-2008 academic year. It is named after the Third Order Regular Franciscan.

3b. The new dorm will allow those who live at the Ohio Valley Hospital School of Nursing dorms at Trinity Medical Center East to move back to campus.

4. The soccer field, located on a terrace behind the Vaccaro Field baseball complex, could be paved over to provide "sorely needed" parking. The new soccer field would be relocated to a flat area on the east side of the golf course.

5. The main campus entrance at Franciscan Way and University Blvd. would be redesigned as well.

6. The 30-year master plan calls for the construction of additional classroom buildings, new administrative offices, and a new university chapel.

7. Growth on the golf course is complex -- because the city has four major easements for water mains that run on the property.

8. The "green strip" between Franklin and University was the city's landfill decades ago. It would be used more for commercial ventures than as an extension of the campus.

9. The university has no "immediate plans" -- for the Holiday Inn or Damon's Restaurant, which they both own. The Holiday Inn annex was turned into dormitories several years ago. The university is "dependent" hotel rooms at the Holiday Inn and the restaurant for the visitors.

10. The university is also wanting to acquire the Parkview Circle public housing project from the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority. Not much would happen to the property, as it is currently used mainly by university students. A lengthy phased-in change would occur, not an immediate "forced exodus" of students.

10a. The 30-year plan identifies the project to be the site of new classrooms and other structures.

Article information: "Property means more growth for university, By PAUL GIANNAMORE, Herald Star [steubenville], Saturday, May 12, 2007"

[seicer]

A new location, a new name

Notes --

1. The 25-year-old Farmers Market will open Thursday as the City Market in a grassy area next to Third Street.

2. The vendors traditionally set up at 7 AM and leave around 3 PM, but are invited to stay longer for the Concert in the Park series that starts at 6:30 PM at the Louis and Sandra Berkman Amphitheater.

3. Live music is being arranged for the lunch hour on Thursdays, which could boost business at the City Market.

Article information: "A new location, a new name, By DAVE GOSSETT, Herald Star [steubenville], May 22, 2007"

[seicer]

More good news from Steubenville!

Market growing at new location

By DAVE GOSSETT, Herald-Star [steubenville], June 20, 2007

The new City Market is growing, in both vendors and customers. It has been open at its new location at the Historic Fort Steuben Park for one month, and the number of weekly vendors is "already above what we had last year," according to the executive director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau. The new location has more room, has more handicapped parking, and the customers are "more serious about buying." Downtown employees are also now taking their lunch breaks near the fountain, and there have been numerous positive comments from customers who come back to the amphitheater later in the day Thursday for the free concerts.