Another block added to $6M Perrysburg uptown revitalization project

The entire Perrysburg uptown will get a makeover beginning next year.

City council approved adding a third part to the Louisiana Avenue revitalization project at its meeting Tuesday. This adds $1.4 million to the cost, for a total of $6.2 million to $6.5 million for all three phases.

Council had already approved doing the 100 and 200 blocks of Louisiana. This week’s action adds the 300 block.

The 300 block will undergo improvements first, in 2025. The 100 and 200 blocks will be done in 2026.

Councilman Kerry Wellstein, chairs the service committee, recused herself from the discussion and vote. She is co-owner of CREATE: Art Studio + Workshop on Louisiana Avenue.

“The city has really done their due diligence on making sure this is a project that we can financially handle,” Mrs. Wellstein said, speaking from the podium as an audience member. “Now is the time to do this.”

Doing the third block at a later time would be more intrusive and expensive, she said. She also cited the 28 parking spaces that will be added.

Angel Elden, who owns two businesses downtown and is on the revitalization committee, echoed the support for more parking.

“Parking is huge. We hear about it almost every day,” she said.

Putting the main part of the project into 2026 will also help the businesses, which are struggling in this down economy, Ms. Elden said.

“If we could even have another year where they’re working on the third block and not the first and second block, that would be really beneficial for our businesses,” she said.

“It is going to be a pretty disruptive situation for the businesses,” Ms. Elden noted. “However, I’m excited for the possibilities of what’s going to come with the revitalization and being ADA compliant, and just what we can do for the downtown.”

Mrs. Wellstein said the Perrysburg Chamber of Commerce and Way Public Library have submitted letters of support.

Council approved the addition to the revitalization project with Mrs. Wellstein abstaining. Tim McCarthy was absent.

The estimated total project cost is currently between $6.2 million and $6.5 million. The plan to pay for the project is to utilize $4 million in reserve funds, some capital dollars, and state money, Administrator Joe Fawcett has said.

In a followup email, Mr. Fawcett said the EDGE Group of Toledo is fairly confident that the cost of the 300 block could come down to $1.4 million from the initial estimate of $1.7 million. Mr. Fawcett further noted that the recently released state capital budget has $200,000 allocated toward this project thanks to state Rep. Haraz Ghanbari (R., Perrysburg) and state Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green) advocating on Perrysburg's behalf.

Adding the 300 block into the project was brought up by residents at a January public meeting to unveil the project.

The staff sought the extra estimate from EDGE, which is overseeing the design.

EDGE’s design costs for the 100 and 200 blocks are $341,500. With the 300 block  added, the extra cost is $125,950 for a total cost of $467,450.

The uptown revitalization process started as an Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility project. City leaders re-envisioned the parameters and embraced it as an investment, turning into a true revitalization and streetscape project, Mr. Fawcett has said.

The plan is for downtown sidewalks to be cut into four zones. Starting at the business and going toward the street, there will be a five-foot building zone followed by eight feet of sidewalk and eight feet of amenity zone, which would be for outdoor dining or vendor tents for the farmers market. The last section is for curbs.

In addition to the ramp system, the plan calls for planters, updated lighting, and public art.