Six years of effort and the investment of $2.2 million in Union City’s downtown was marked last week with a 50-minute walking tour.
The walk with approximately 15 participants was organized by the Union City Community Foundation (UCCF) to show representatives of various other funding sources what the community has accomplished with their support, and to thank contractors that have done much of the work.
The participants gathered at the site of the former Union City Dinor, at the intersection of Main and High streets, which since the work began in 2019 has been referred to as the downtown “gateway.”
At right, Union City Borough Manager Cindy Wells points out building façade improvements and other initiatives during a walking tour of the borough’s downtown.
Representatives of the UCCF, Erie Community Foundation (ECF), Union City Borough, Preservation Erie and other entities, along with representatives of Union City-based Construction Services of Pennsylvania, which has done much of the downtown-related work, heard how the effort began from Steve Bishop, a project manager with the Union City Community Foundation.
Bishop noted the downtown revitalization actually began prior to 2019 through the efforts of Borough Manager Cindy Wells, who worked with the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority (ECGRA) on downtown building facades and streetscaping, and with the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission to establish a downtown historic preservation plan.
Bishop said the efforts ramped up considerably in 2019 when the community was awarded a $256,000 grant from the ECF’s “Shaping Tomorrow” program, along with a follow-up $250,000 Shaping Tomorrow grant from ECF three years later in 2022.
At the former diner site, Bishop described how the ECF funding kick-started a public gateway conceptualization process that has resulted in a transformation of that intersection. Changes have included removal of the diner, infilling the site and constructing a courtyard; a new entrance and stairway to the lower municipal parking lot; and exterior renovations to the adjoining building to give it a “diner-like look” as a tribute to the former diner.
Across the street in the small “Industrial Park” pocket park, overgrown trees were removed, new brick piers and iron fencing installed to mirror the look of the nearby courtyard, a concrete sidewalk and pad poured, and an oversized wooden chair installed as a tribute to Union City’s furniture-making heritage.
Following several public-input forums, three murals were also installed as a panorama across the gateway, with extensive wall restorations at those sites to accommodate the artwork.
Bishop and Wells then led the tour south on Main Street to the new parking lot across from Union City Public Library, stopping along the way to point out restored building facades, historic markers, interpretive panels, sidewalk trees, the new downtown lighting initiative, a new gazebo and other projects.
The tour ended at the former Union City Chair property where future initiatives such as the planned “French Creek Trail” project were discussed, before a reception for the tour participants at the nonprofit Main Street Art Center.
UCCF Chairman Steve Jones addressed those in attendance, noting the foundation’s initial involvement in the downtown initiatives came after former ECF President Mike Batchelor encouraged the boards of ECF’s affiliate foundations in Union City, Corry, North East and Findley Lake to take a more proactive role in their communities.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to walk through the downtown with many of the partnering organizations that also shared the vision for positive enhancement to the community,” Jones said. “The whole idea that the Union City Community Foundation was tasked with was a vision to help create and beautify the downtown to make Union City something we are all proud to call home.
“This is just a start, and we are building on many more projects to come in the future,” Jones added. “We are blessed to have so many caring partners and community members.
“The future is exciting.”
DOWNTOWN UNION CITY INVESTMENT: 2019-2024
| INVESTMENT SOURCE | APPROXIMATE INVESTMENT | PROJECTS INCLUDED |
| ERIE COUNTY GAMING REVENUE AUTHORITY | $621,375 | Facades; Historic Preservation Plan match; structural assessments and matching fund; parking lot; dinor site remediation; stairway; City Building ADA, façade, first-floor renovations; gateway projects; lighting; murals; gazebo; business e-marketing project; electronic message center, more. |
| ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $553,000 | Most if not all downtown initiatives, including City Building. |
| DOWNTOWN PROPERTY OWNERS | $220,000+ | Matched ECGRA opportunities for facades and structural improvements. |
| ERIE COUNTY REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY | $210,677 | Gateway projects. |
| UNION CITY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $159,959 | Historic Preservation Plan match; streetscaping; City Building ADA and 2nd-floor use assessment; gateway projects; murals; lighting; Christmas decorations; electronic message center; facades; structural improvements. |
| FEDERAL COMMUNITY FACILITIES GRANT | $154,000 | City Building 1st-floor improvements. |
| PA DEPT. OF COMMUNITY/ECON DEV | $125,116 | Dinor removal/site remediation |
| PA HISTORICAL & MUSEUM COMMISSION | $116,375 | Downtown Historic Preservation Master Plan; City Building ADA, façade, restroom. |
| MOLDED FIBERGLASS CORP. (MFG) OF UC | $15,000 | Dinor courtyard completion, Industrial Park, stairway. |
| UC COMMUNITY HOUSE ASSOCIATION | $4,000 | City Building ADA and 2nd-floor use assessment match. |
| UC ACTION | $2,100 | Toward trees, interpretive panels, historic markers. |
| PRESERVATION ERIE | $2,000 | Historic markers. |
| ERIE ARTS & CULTURE | $2,000 | 150th anniversary mural. |
| UNION CITY BOROUGH | $2,000 | Historic Preservation Plan match. |
| TOTAL | $2,187,602 |
