BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      When newly-completed capital improvements at the Southern Park Mall are unveiled to the public during a Community Day celebration set for Sat., Oct. 23, in addition to showcasing the four-acre DeBartolo Commons, the event will memorialize American shopping mall pioneer Edward J. DeBartolo Sr., who built the mall in the late 1960s. Mr. DeBartolo made his home on Southwoods Dr. in Boardman.
      The exhibit will pay tribute to the DeBartolo-York family’s tremendous impact in the Boardman/Youngstown community, and its iconic place in the retail, real estate and professional sports worlds.
      “In addition to DeBartolo Commons, it’s been an honor to collaborate with Mrs. Denise DeBartolo-York and her team on the DeBartolo retrospective, which commemorates Edward J. DeBartolo ...Read More >>

     A Community Day celebration, free and open to the public, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 23 to showcase the grand opening of the DeBartolo Commons four-acre, athletic and entertainment green space and event venue for the benefit of Southern Park Mall’s guests, tenants, and community neighbors and partners. DeBartolo Commons is a major portion of some $30 million in capital improvements begun at the Southern Park two years ago.
      In addition, Community Day will celebrate the addition later this year of several local tenants including The Bunker, Double Bogey’s Bar & Grill, and Steel Valley Brew Works, each of which will overlook and connect to DeBartolo Commons, collectively forming a go-to outdoor gathering space and place of connection and fellowship within the community.
      Community Day, from noon to 8 p.m., will also feature live music, crafts, food trucks and kids’ activities...Read More >>

     Residents of the Forest Glen neighborhood who are members of the Forest Glen Homeowners Association and the Boardman of Boardman Township Trustees agreed they will oppose proposed changes to the intersection of Market St. at Shields and Brookwood Rds.
      Meeting last week, Trustees Tom Costello, Brad Calhoun and Larry Moliterno unanimously voted to oppose the changes as proposed by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
      The state agency, in part, says because there have been 76 traffic accidents at the intersection (only three with serious injury) since Jan., 2014, it wants to spend about $1.5 million to close down Brookwood Rd. at the intersection of Market St. and create a cul-de-sac there.
      ODOT says “the improvements will address high crash frequencies.”
      But the Forest Glen Homeowners Association ...Read More >>