It’s a somewhat arbitrary starting point, but if Union City’s revitalization began in 2009 when a new nonprofit called Union City Pride razed three blighted houses on Concord Street and purchased a row of dilapidated commercial buildings on South Main Street, the investment in the community since that time is nothing short of remarkable.
Union City Pride – now known as UC Action – received $42,900 from the Union City Community Foundation for those two projects, and that former row of commercial downtown buildings has since been razed to make way for a vitally needed public parking lot, dressed up with a gazebo, landscaping, and a mural.
There was no way to know at the time it was the opening salvo in what over the ensuing 17 years would total nearly $10 million of investment from a host of financial partners. That funding has catalyzed a litany of projects, ranging from formal planning processes that have driven much of the investment, to a reinvention of the downtown’s “gateway,” and extensive sidewalk replacements throughout the borough.
Other improvements include downtown building façade improvements, neighborhood housing renovations, significant park upgrades, chainsaw carvings throughout the business district, improvements along French Creek through the heart of the borough, and much more.
And if the pace of that investment seems to have accelerated in recent years, it’s because it has. Of the $9.8 million invested in the community since 2009, nearly $8.7 million worth of projects have either been accomplished or are in the pipeline just since 2018.
The projects, funding sources and years accomplished are itemized on Union City Borough’s website at unioncitypa.us/progress/.
“When the pace of the investment and projects began to snowball, Borough Manager Cindy Wells and I realized we needed to capture that information and itemize it, so that it wasn’t just lost to history,” said Steve Bishop, project manager with the Union City Community Foundation. “I’m glad we did. It’s fun keeping score when you’re winning.”
The list captures most, if not all, grants, funding sources and projects that have helped “move Union City’s dial,” Bishop said.
In addition to the projects themselves, Bishop said the number of partners participating in Union City’s resurgence speaks to the diligence and track record Wells has established in getting projects to the finish line.
“Funding sources like seeing their resources put to good use, projects getting done in a timely fashion, and having real impact,” Bishop said.
State funding has led the way, with nearly $3.3 million awarded from a variety of state and state-related departments and entities in just the five years since 2021. Other partners since 2021 include Union City’s residential and downtown commercial property owners at more than $1.7 million to match grant opportunities; the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority’s (ECGRA) investment of nearly $1.5 million; Erie County at some $571,000; and $554,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and other federal sources.
Other significant contributors over just the past five years have included the Erie Community Foundation at $466,510; Union City Borough itself at more than $333,000 – including $160,000 targeted to a future bridge replacement – more than $318,000 from the Union City Community Foundation; and $48,273 from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
Funding has also been received from two local businesses, Molded Fiberglass Corp. (MFG) and Parker Hannifin Corp., as well as two local nonprofits, the Union City Community House Association and UC Action, the Pennsylvania Route 6 Association, Preservation Erie and Erie Arts & Culture.
“It’s been exciting to be a part of all the improvements and projects that have been completed in just the last few years,” said Wells. “It took several individuals from many organizations all working together to have been able to accomplish what has been done.
“Union City is no longer looked down on as it previously was,” Wells added. “It has become an example to many communities as to what is possible when we work together.”
The financially smallest project on the borough’s website is $5,200 for a pending analysis of trees lining the borough’s streets and in its parks by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, which will help determine the health of the borough’s trees and where opportunities for future trees exist.
The largest fiscal investment since 2009 has been to support ECGRA’s ongoing, multi-year Renaissance Block program that targets exterior residential improvements. That program since 2018 has seen ECGRA’s investment of $446,405 matched some three times over by nearly $1.3 million in homeowner investment.
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