By MARK TODD - Staff Writer - mtodd@starbeacon.com
CONNEAUT — A citizens committee working to attract a supermarket to Conneaut is providing city leaders a helping hand, officials said Thursday.
“The committee is a tool to help us,” said Councilman-at-Large Chris Castrilla, chairman of council’s economic development committee.
A group composed of professional people has been working quietly more than a year to fill the long-vacant Giant Eagle store in the Gateway Plaza shopping center, spokesman Ralph Hawkins said recently.
Three grocery chains are interested in the store, which has been empty for nearly three years, Hawkins said. There’s a chance a new tenant could be announced before the end of the year, he has said.
Council President James Jones said he has conferred with Hawkins on the project.
“(The committee) is trying to help,” Jones said. “We’re supportive of their efforts. (Hawkins) has also worked with (former city manager) Douglas Lewis.”
Castrilla also has talked to Hawkins and appreciates the group’s assistance.
“They’re being helpful and doing the legwork,” he said.
Hawkins was involved in a similar committee effort that tried to bring a supermarket to fill the former Tops store on West Prospect in Ashtabula.
The Conneaut committee is composed of local people who have no financial interest in the project, Hawkins has said. “They only work on something that’s good for the whole community,” he said.
The members, fearful of harassment and reprisals, do not wish to be identified, Hawkins said.
“There are always private individuals who want their businesses endorsed or promoted,” he said. “(Committee members) are professionals; they can’t afford to make enemies.”
The response to newspaper publicity given the Conneaut committee has been very encouraging, Hawkins said recently. Strangers who recognized his photo in the paper have approached him with compliments and encouragement, he said.
