Slowly but steadily, Warren is making progress at creating a city center that would even make "The Simpson's" Groundskeeper Willie sing Petula Clark's famous hit "Downtown."
The city plans to raze its old city hall this summer to help make room for new dense, mixed-use development in the area of Van Dyke Avenue and Common Road. A new city hall, library (which has been handing out about 500 new library cards a month since opening) and a year-round park are already complete to form the foundation for city square in a traditional downtown.
"The city square is doing phenomenally well," says Gina Cavaliere, the director for Warren's Downtown Development Authority. "There are a lot more people showing up to it than we expected."
Much of the land in that area has been cleared or is set to be cleared to make way for more development. The expected completion of the new headquarters for Warrior Sports, a lacrosse and hockey equipment manufacturer, on Hollingsworth Driver, this summer is one of the first pieces of that development.
The city is looking for developers to build up the 17.5 acres surrounding the new city hall and library. A deadline for proposals has been extended to December to "let the dust settle on the state's new business tax," Cavaliere says. City leaders are keeping an open mind on whether to build office, commercial or residential space in the area.
For information, call (586) 574-4676 or send an e-mail to dda@cityofwarren.org.
Source: Gina Cavaliere, DDA director for Warren.
Writer: Jon Zemke