GREENVILLE, Pa - The Greenville Redevelopment Authority hosted a community meeting on Wednesday night at the Greenville Senior Community Center to hear ideas for future development projects to revitalize the downtown area and beyond from Greenville residents. 

The Greenville Redevelopment Authority is an organization founded to improve underutilized or deteriorated infrastructure and encourage development across the municipality.

Greenville Borough Manager Jasson Urey says the goal of the meeting is to provide more clarity for what the community wants.

"When you say grocery store, are you meaning a Giant Eagle?...Or are you meaning more of a small farmer's market?" he said.

The group adds that the meeting would bring more clarity about residential projects, such as improvements to existing infrastructure or construction of new housing units.

Proposed recreational projects involve activities along the Shenango river which runs through the borough's downtown area.

Urey says the projects are needed to revitalize the community after the decline of its industrial centers, like those in other communities in the Shenango and Mahoning Valleys. He adds that a combination of development projects would help to diversify the communities.

"Our community, just like many others around us, including Youngstown, is an old mill-type community, and when those industries and mills all closed, it left a gap in our communities," he said.

One proposed issue is the use of the Trinity North site, a former railway yard. The site would sit next to Greenville's downtown area and could be used for future residential, commercial, or recreational projects.

Urey says the site could be fully utilized within 10 to 20 years, but other projects elsewhere would not take as long.

The Greenville Redevelopment Authority plans to meet with residents again in the Spring, according to Urey.