YOUNGSTOWN An upscale nightclub will open in downtown's Wick Building

More arts events downtown are opening a market for upscale nightspots.
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city-owned Wick Building is turning to a nighttime tenant.
The city's board of control signed a lease Thursday to rent the ground floor of the downtown office building to an upscale nightclub.
The city signed a three-year lease with Bernard Marinelli that calls for the club to operate between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m.
The club, which will have a dress code, will have high-end fixtures and lighting, said Jeffrey L. Chagnot, city development director. He described the look as patterned after New York nightclubs.
"It'll be different for downtown Youngstown. It'll provide a different flavor," he said.
Don Bova, a partner with Marinelli, said Thursday that they want to keep the project low-profile for now. Bova said he doesn't know when the club will open, though renovations have started.
Bova said Chagnot's description of the club was accurate. He declined to comment further. Marinelli wasn't available to comment.
Improvements, rent
Club owners are to pay for improvements to the space, such as adding the fixtures, installing rest rooms and making it handicap-accessible.
The monthly rent for the 2,856-square-foot space is $952 the first year, $980 the second year and $1,009 the third year.
The club is the type of business the city is looking for as downtown turns into a center for arts and entertainment, Chagnot said.
"It fits right in," be said.
A local attorney, Jeff Kurz, and some partners are close to signing a lease with the city's downtown redevelopment agency to open an upscale cigar and martini bar. That club would be in the old First Federal building on West Federal Street.
Arts events
Chagnot said more people are going downtown for arts events, creating a market for upscale places to go afterward. Powers Auditorium in particular has increased its bookings substantially the past year, especially contemporary music shows.
"I think people have taken notice of the aggressive schedule of Powers," Chagnot said.
The Wick Building's ground floor has been vacant about 18 months. The last business there was a women's clothing store.
Other tenants
The building, at times nearly empty in the past, has seen more activity in recent months.
The Youngstown police street crimes unit moved in last month. The new unit, paid for by a grant, combines city police, Mahoning County deputy sheriffs and U.S. marshals. It's nice to have a dozen or so law enforcement officers around downtown at all times of day and night, Chagnot said.
Meanwhile, a law office has expanded the space it leases and a company awaiting construction of a new office at the Ohio Works Industrial Park is spending a year at the Wick. First Night Youngstown, the family-oriented, alcohol-free New Year's Eve event, moved its office into the building this year and a construction-training program opened an office in the Wick Building recently.
rgsmith@vindy.com