A joint effort in Tidioute is transforming the old hardware store space into a valuable space for the whole community.

And the funding side of that effort got a shot in the arm Wednesday.

Tidioute Community Charter School Assistant Principal Ryan Steffan said it’s part of an initiative undertaken by the TCCS Foundation, which was started in 2015.

“We have some significant public donations that are long-term that we started the project with,” he said. “We used some of that money since last year.”

Steffan explained that a local family donated the building and the funding was used to start working on the space.

“We made some significant improvements,” he said, explaining that the project is a joint effort between TCCS as well as the Tidioute Heart & Soul group. “We would like to bring that all together as a community building as well as a student use facility for different types of events.”

Half of the space would provide that space for students while the other would be open for community events. Steffan said any funds generated as a result would go back to the TCCS Foundation “that will benefit students in the long run with scholarships and the like.”

The building is 6,300 square feet.

“We are just trying to continue that and make money for the foundation as a 501c3 to benefit students, strike two birds with one stone,” he said, and “give the Tidioute community a building for different events to try to add to the spark of the community. It seems to be coming together.”

Steffan said the building was in “terrible shape” and 11 rolloff dumpsters worth of material was hauled out.

“We want to keep going,” he said.

Heather Cass, who is the school’s secretary, part of the Heart & Soul group and now on borough council, said the partnership with Heart & Soul was an effort at “trying to get the voice of the community” in defining the best use of the building.

“That what we’re doing bringing these multiple organizations together.”

Ronnie Weller said the Foundation has raised about $70,000 so far and spent that on the work completed so far.

“We’re going to do what it’s going to take,” he said.

The Warren County Commissioners have agreed to contribute $15,000 in Act 13 funding – funding from state-wide Marcellus Shale gas development – to the effort.

Commissioner Jeff Eggleston called it a “really fantastic redevelopment project” and called it a good “display of leadership in Tidioute.

“(It’s) very exciting to see everybody coming together with a shared vision for the downtown,” he added.

The funding “will help them continue to work through the winter and get the building really ready to be utilized.”