you're invited to thursday's meeting on "deconstructing" abandoned homes

Move is afoot to develop a deconstruction program in Youngstown, and this week is your opportunity to hear more about the topic.

This Thursday 7pm April 23rd at the Ohio One Building (the downtown building on Boardman Street with the incredible wooden meeting space and the words "Ohio One" lit on the top), there will be a presentation by deconstruction expert David Bennink, of Re-Use Consulting in Washington state.

so what exactly is deconstruction?

it's the systematic disassembly of a structure to maximize reuse and recycling of the building materials. The process enables the salvage and reuse of valuable commodities used in building, such as lumber, brick, metal, and asphalt shingles.



David has been working in the deconstruction industry for 16 years, and has facilitated over 450 deconstruction projects and 3,000 salvage projects throughout the United States. He's been a key player in bringing the process to many cities, which has led to the development of organizations such as Buffalo ReUse.



how does a community transform challenges into an opportunities?

by selling salvaged materials, deconstruction offers the possibility to create a self-sustaining blight removal mechanism. Deconstruction also employs people through the creation of a market, allowing materials from the community to stay within the community, i.e. less reliance on outside suppliers.

all interested people from Cleveland and Pittsburgh are encouraged to attend.

Click here for an example of a successful Youngstown deconstruction of a big-box store.

Youngstown is open and listening to creative solutions. This event is sponsored by the Community Development Agency of Youngstown city government.