River Roots Redevelopment: Welcome to June!

By: Selina Pedi-Smith, Pellere Foundation

Welcome to June! And… this isn’t the article I hoped I’d be writing right now. I hoped we’d have more definitive updates, more visible progress, more reasons to celebrate. But, after two decades of doing this work, I can’t say I’m surprised. Slow, sometimes excruciatingly painful progress is the norm, not the exception. I always hope for the best, plan for the worst, and keep the work moving quietly, stubbornly forward.

So, here’s where things stand:

403 W 2nd Street is still trucking along, and we’re making progress! The main roof has been patched (thank you, Brian at Bortzer Roofing), and we’re aiming to replace it fully as soon as funding allows. The electric is back up and running (shoutout to Matt and the crew at Jewell Electric, who tackled the mess of cut lines that made us all mutter under our breath a few times). Thanks to Isaias Gomez, plumbing work is underway and the interior cleanup continues. There’s still a mountain of work ahead, but it’s no longer Mount Everest in a blizzard.

We hoped to expand this work across Venango County with a Thriving Communities grant, but that program, along with several others, was recently terminated at the federal level. And… we press on.

Over at Seneca Plaza, demolition work has resumed in the smaller building. If you’ve walked by lately, you’ve probably noticed the changes. Dropped ceilings? Gone. Maze of interior walls? Gone. The Oil City Water Department also updated the water supply lines - huge thanks to Jason and his team for that. Little by little, we’re working with our partners to get that space clean, clear, and ready for its next chapter.

On the paradigm-shifting new housing side of things, momentum continues with our friends and collaborators at Penn State. Full conceptual site plans for the Terra Alta subdivision are in progress. This is where it all comes together - the design, the infrastructure, the integration of technology and community, the kind of forward-thinking, rural-rooted work that keeps us excited even when things slow to a crawl. It’ll still be a bit before we break ground, but we’re building something that will show exactly what this region can do. Slowly. Steadily. And with every ounce of heart we’ve got.

Elsewhere, the relationship-building never stops. Every partnership takes time, energy, emotional labor, and a solid dash of magic. Ideas get sparked. Solutions get shaped. People who care about the same things find each other… and get to work. Speaking of getting to work - our first video is live! It’s nothing fancy (and trust me, I’m painfully aware of my limited video editing skills), but it’s a glimpse of what we’re up to on 2nd Street. You can find it on our brand-new Pellere Foundation YouTube channel. We’ve got one whole video and two whole subscribers: me, and Rachel. We’ve joked that we’ll do one video per hundred subscribers, but honestly? We’ll probably throw a celebration when we hit ten. No shame. We’re just that excited to be learning something new and putting ourselves out there, wobbly camera angles and all.

So, yeah - here we are, almost halfway through the year. No confetti yet. A lot of work done. A lot more to do. If that kind of effort matters to you, too - stick with us. And hey, if you’re feeling generous, maybe go click “subscribe.”

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Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. She can be reached by email at rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org