Anna Frantz leaving Our West Bayfront for Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority post

Anna Frantz has spent the past seven years working to improve the neighborhoods along Erie’s west bayfront.

Now Frantz is preparing to shift gears in terms of regional development as the new deputy executive director of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority.

Frantz, 45, is leaving her position as executive director of Our West Bayfront on July 12. The nonprofit neighborhood organization focuses on community development in an area from Sassafras Street west to the Bayfront Parkway and from West 12th Street north to Presque Isle Bay.

She starts her new job at the Port Authority on July 15, said Julie Slomski, the Port Authority's executive director.

“I wasn’t necessarily looking for another job,” Frantz said, “but the opportunity came up and it seemed like a really good fit for my interests. I’m really excited about being a part of what’s going to happen in the future along the waterfront.”

Slomski said Frantz will earn $125,000 annually as the Port Authority's deputy director.

Fortifying a neighborhood

Frantz was hired by Our West Bayfront in January 2017 and was the organization’s first executive director.

The initiative was launched in 2016 as a collaboration between residents and Gannon University,Housing and Neighborhood Development Service and the Martin Luther King Center.

Our West Bayfront addressed Frantz’s departure on its website late last week. The organization stated that scheduled Our West Bayfront events/programs "will continue as planned" while the group's board of directors, working with Gannon University officials, accepts applications for the executive director's position at https://gannon.peopleadmin.com/postings/12133.

The organization also mentioned some of the community improvement highlights achieved by Our West Bayfront during Frantz’s tenure. They include:

• Securing more than $7.2 million in grants for various initiatives.
• Efforts to repair 164 properties in the Our West Bayfront target area, fueled by “an investment of over $1.2 million in grants and owner contributions.”
• Revitalizing the West Eighth Street commercial corridor, including the restoration of 404-406 W. Eighth St., a 5,200-square-foot building constructed in 1882 that housed Howard’s Photography for decades. That building now houses Our West Bayfront’s offices; community meeting space; roughly 1,000 square feet of retail/commercial space; and three fully-refurbished upper-floor apartments.
• Renovating other abandoned/neglected properties in the organization’s target area
• Improvements to various public spaces such as Bayview and Gridley parks — including a 10-foot-wide, 5-foot-high, 500-pound “Erie” sign erected on the bluff at Bayview Park and a splash pad at Bayview — as well as sidewalk repairs and the planting of more than 100 trees.
• Growing the number of family-friendly events in in the west bayfront.

A new challenge

Frantz said she’s proud that Our West Bayfront “was able to bring together a variety of different people and organizations, including business owners, neighbors, church leaders and many others, to play a role in neighborhood improvement. We created a structure that gives people a voice in terms of what’s going on in their community.”

She also expressed confidence in Our West Bayfront's search for her successor.

"I don't have any reservations about that," Frantz said. "And sometimes it's good to have someone come in and look at a situation with a fresh set of eyes. Organizations need that sometimes."

Slmoski, the Port Authority's executive director, said she's looking forward to working with Frantz.

“Anna has the experience, the urban planning skill, and the knowledge of the bayfront,” Slomski said. “I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with her.”

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.