Warren and Youngsville residents should see the fruits of two state grants pretty quickly.

The city of Warren received $500,000 for its Mulberry Park project, which includes construction of a comfort station, pedestrian walkways, a pavilion, parking area and stormwater management measures; installation of playground equipment with required safety surfacing, lighting and utilities; ADA access, landscaping, project sign and other related site improvements. Much of the state grant will be spent on drainage work in the park – something city officials have said several times in recent years is a need before the park can be used more by Warren families.

The state funding will be put to good use fixing a longstanding problem.

A $100,000 grant to Youngsville Borough, meanwhile, will help breathe new life into the space formerly occupied by the Fairmont Hotel. After years of attempted redevelopment efforts, damage from a fire led the property’s owner to abandon efforts to reopen the space. In its place will be Fairmont Park, which will include construction of a plaza, stage, pedestrian walkways and parking area; installation of lighting and utilities; ADA access, landscaping, a sign and other related site improvements. The project, which is being led by Revitalization of Youngsville, could be a beautiful and active space in the middle of the borough that helps bring additional vitality to the downtown.

Both of these projects, in theory, could have proceeded without the state’s help – but they both get a little easier with the state’s support. What’s particularly noteworthy, though, is the collaboration that took place behind the scenes. While Revitalization of Youngsville is leading the Fairmont Plaza project, the grant application for state funding was written by Josh Cotton, Warren County’s grant writer. It’s just the latest example of the type of collaboration that is needed to generate the resources for these types of projects.