Society, the land bank records the history of demolished houses | News, Sports, Jobs

WARREN — The Trumbull County Historical Society, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, Trumbull County Landbank, and the city have launched Warren Razed, a project to digitize the County Landbank’s urban renewal and demolition records. Warren County for the public.

“We tried to find ways to highlight the changing landscape of Warren, from urban renewal in the 1960s-1970s to the present day,” Meghan Reed, director of the Trumbull County Historical Society, said.

“Warren lost about a third of its downtown buildings to urban renewal, not to mention the entire Flats neighborhood that was dismantled. We started working with the city to identify urban renewal records and images that were taken and see what we could do to preserve those stories.

The project also digitized urban renewal plans and maps, available on Warren Razed’s website. This work was partially funded by an Ohio History Fund grant of $12,043 to implement this project. The History Fund is made possible by voluntary contributions from state income tax refunds, Ohio History Sales “mastodon” license plates and other donations through www.ohiohistory.org/historyfund.

“I think it’s a great idea, and I really appreciate the aggressive pursuit of these grants to help preserve our history,” said Mayor Doug Franklin. “It’s important that as we continue to move forward, we don’t lose sight of the past that has helped shape who we are as a city.

By developing the online platform, project partners hoped to make transparent not only the demolitions that have occurred in the past, but also the strategic downsizing seen in the city today.

In 2014, the Trumbull County Land Bank received $14 million to take a much more strategic approach to demolishing vacant and dilapidated residential properties throughout Trumbull County in order to increase housing values ​​and remedy horrors. .

More than 800 structures in Warren have been demolished since then.

In 2021, the land bank demolished 77 degraded and abandoned properties, according to its annual report.

“We knew going in that we were going to destroy buildings that were very personal to people,” Shawn Carvin, director of the Trumbull County Land Bank, said. “These were houses where people were brought up and in many cases they were beautiful houses at one time, but after sitting vacant for so long the houses we approached had deteriorated to the beyond repair.”

“We are thrilled to partner with this project to create an accessible database of houses and two-story buildings that no longer exist in our community,” He continued.

Warren’s Director of Community Development, Michael Keys, said he’s glad the town was able to secure the funding to complete the project.

“These recordings must be saved and made available to the public”, Keys says.

The interactive map, as well as maps, plans and project reports, are available at www.warrenrazed.org. All urban renewal records are now held at the Trumbull County Historical Society.

To make an appointment to view this material or for more information, contact TCHS at 330-394-4653 or info@trumbull

countyhistory.org.