Passing of Capital Budget Could Bring Over $4 Million to Canton, Massillon Projects

Thomas West (Ohio House Democratic Caucus)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (News Talk 1480 WHBC) – The General Assembly is expected to push out a lot of legislation on Thursday, with the current session near an end.

The $2.1 billion state capital or “construction” budget is expected to be part of that.

State Rep Thomas West says of the $6.5 million in funding slated to come back to Stark County, $4.3 million is in projects in Canton, Massillon and the rest of his 49th District.

The funding for 15 projects includes a million dollars for the Hall of Fame Village Center for Excellence, with another million going to the Canton Cultural Center for the Arts.

There’s also a half-million dollars for Reservoir Park in Massillon and another half-million for other park projects.

Here’s the list of projects:

$500,000 in funds for improvements to the city of Massillon’s Reservoir Park, including construction of a splash pad
$250,000 in funds for improvements to Faircrest Park in Canton Township
$250,000 in funds for improvements to the National First Ladies’ Library in Canton
$250,000 in funds for improvements to the J. Babe Stearn Ball Field in Canton
$40,000 in funds for excavating work at Nimisilla Park in Canton
$1,000,000 in funds for renovations at the 20/20 Canton Cultural Center
$200,000 in funds for mechanical updates at the Massillon Museum
$150,000 in funds for a project at Clearview Museum
$100,000 in funds for improvements to the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum
$20,000 in funds for improvements to Spring Hill Historic Home
$50,000 in funds for the Canton Jewish Community Federation’s Community Security Partnership
$1,000,000 in funds for the Hall of Fame Village Center for Excellence
$90,000 in funds for Mercy Medical Center’s OB-GYN Emergency Department
$200,000 in funds for the Akron-Canton Foodbank’s “Growing for Good” Campaign
$200,000 in funds for improvements to CommQuest Services’ Massillon Recovery Campus

West just returned to Columbus Wednesday after quarantining for a week.

Two reps he was working with are hospitalized with the virus.