twinsburg: It could have been worse.Along with the loss of 1,200 Chrysler jobs and $2 million in annual tax revenue, the city could have been forced to endure the psychological torture of watching the sprawling empty stamping plant slowly decay.“My greatest fear was seeing a monstrosity of a building sitting there with windows broken and weeds growing,” Mayor Katherine Procop said.But this year will wipe the slate clean.Developers already have torn down most of the plant, and a preserved 800,000-square-foot high-ceiling section originally thought to be marketable is coming down as well.Under the name Cornerstone Business Park, the property will offer 167 acres of some of the most prime commercial and industrial space available in Northeast Ohio.That’s just one of the changes in store for this northern Summit County community of 17,340 people.Other activities on the front burner include a new home for the local Kent State University campus, groundbreaking for a nature center at Liberty Park and the design phase of an effort to widen state Route 91.Procop, the city’s chief for more than a decade, credits a voter-approved quarter-percent income tax increase and the ongoing “hard work and cost efficiencies” implemented by city employees for weathering the Chrysler storm.The city began the year with a general fund carryover of $14.6 million and a sense of optimism for what 2012 will bring.Economic developmentTransforming the former Chrysler property isn’t cheap. The city will focus this year on trying to get up to $6 million in state grants to aid in the effort.This month, local officials will travel to Columbus to pitch their need for $3 million in Job Ready Sites funding to pay for putting infrastructure on the property. Later this year, they will make another pilgrimage to ask for $3 million from the Clean Ohio Fund to help remediate the soil.Another significant project in Twinsburg is nearly done.A Kent State University branch, originally launched in 1996 to cater to Chrysler employees, will leave its 1927 building for a new 44,000-square-foot home on Creekside Drive.The school, which offers a nursing degree among other programs, will be able to welcome up to 1,200 students in the fall, Procop said.The fate of the building KSU will abandon — locally known as “Old School” because of its original purpose — is undecided. It could become a business incubator, home to a museum being discussed with city officials or it could be torn down, Procop said.Not all news on the economic development front is good, however.The year started with the loss of yet another local employer. Regency Windows announced on Thursday that it is closing for good, which will drain $40,000 a year from city coffers.Parks and leisureRemarkably, a full 20 percent of the city is public park land, and that figure is more likely to grow than decline.Procop said the city will continue efforts to purchase property along Tinkers Creek, which cuts diagonally through the city. It’s the city’s way of protecting the creek from development that could contribute to unwanted runoff that might harm the natural amenity.At the 1,700-acre Liberty Park, a green gem operated in partnership with Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, construction could begin in June on a $2.75 million nature center along the park’s northern edge. The facility would be smaller than, but similar to, the park district’s Seiberling Nature Realm in Akron.Interior renovations are under way at the Twinsburg Public Library, and the city-owned Gleneagles Golf Course hopes to benefit this year from changes made in 2011.Last year’s wet golf season was a tough one for many fairways operators, Procop said, “but we used the opportunity to get some things done.” Along with improvements to the course, a new pump station used for watering the course was installed.The city’s social calendar will look familiar.The Rock The Park concert series, which draws up to 1,000 visitors for each performance at Glen Chamberlin Park, has its summer schedule ready. And the iconic Twins Days Festival is sure to draw a local, national and international crowd to its Aug. 3-5 celebration of paired siblings.The city-owned Twinsburg Fitness Center, Twinsburg Water Park and Twinsburg Senior Center also will offer their usual menu of programming.InfrastructureThe city’s capital budget this year stands at $3.2 million, including $2 million that will be invested in general maintenance of roads.Meanwhile, Twinsburg marches closer to an $8 million project that would widen state Route 91 in 2014 or 2015. This year is the design phase, and officials are in the midst of holding public hearings on the project, which could include installing a roundabout at the intersection with Glenwood.As an advocate of green initiatives, Procop said she will continue her efforts to evolve Twinsburg into a more environmentally responsible municipality.The city already heats its outdoor public pool using solar panels and last year concluded a campaign to install energy-efficient lighting in all city buildings.This year, the city will reap the benefits of a microturbine installed at the wastewater treatment plant, which turns naturally generated methane gas into electricity. The city expects to save $48,000 in energy costs this year.The city also recently purchased four hybrid vehicles and will spend the year doing a savings analysis to share with other interested communities.Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.