Tax Credit Boosts New Castle School Project
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The New Castle School of Trades anticipates opening a new East Liverpool branch next year, even though much work remains to be completed before the project can go forward.
“That’s an aggressive timeline but 2015 is still doable,” predicted Rex Spaulding, president of the New Castle, Pa., trade school.
Plans to renovate the former Ogilvie Department and 5 and 10 store buildings into classroom space for NCST got a boost yesterday with the award of a $1.13 million Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit (READ STORY).
The total project is estimated to cost $6.5 million. Ogilvie was at one time the largest retailer in downtown East Liverpool. Since it closed more 30 years ago, the buildings, at 127 and 129 E. Fifth St., have served various tenants but now are vacant and deteriorated.
The historic preservation tax credit is “one of the steps in the process,” Spaulding said.
NCST is part of the effort to revitalize downtown East Liverpool and was invited to consider establishing a trade school as part of those efforts, he said.
Several funding sources need to come together and NCST is working with the city to secure other assistance, Spaulding said. The school also is trying to secure state New Market Tax Credits, he reported.
The project’s original timeline called for the trade school to be open for business next year, but much remains to be done, he conceded.
The programs the new branch would house, including welding, commercial trucking and industrial maintenance, would serve Columbiana County’s growing oil and gas industry.
“We think there’s certainly a market there for skilled trades people,” Spaulding remarked.
Copyright 2014 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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