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Staff photo / R. Michael Semple
Warren Councilman Larry Larson, D-1st Ward, stands outside the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital site on Tod Avenue NW on Thursday. The city is expecting a $2.5 million grant for asbestos abatement at the abandoned hospital, which will make it possible for it to be torn down, officials announced at an earlier news conference at city hall.
WARREN — It’s been three decades coming, but Warren Mayor Doug Franklin says a northwest neighborhood blighted with the dangerous, decrepit “eyesore” of the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital may see relief soon.
Franklin said he is confident a $2.5 million grant application for asbestos abatement at the hospital will be awarded next month. Franklin and several city officials and council members gathered Thursday afternoon on the steps of Warren City Hall, where council members signed a request-for-legislation document expected to be voted on Wednesday, authorizing the administration to apply for the funds through the Ohio Development Services Agency.