YOUNGSTOWN Building renovation reflects company's philosophy, exec says

The 50-foot-long bridge will link the old office to the production building.
THE VINDICATOR
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Fifty years ago, white- and blue-collar workers at a company each had their own buildings. Rarely did the two sides meet.
No more.
A local business is demonstrating how industry has changed with the renovation of an old office building that will include an enclosed pedestrian bridge to the neighboring production plant.
The city's design review committee approved the renovation Wednesday for City Machine Technologies.
The company is renovating a 48-year-old office across from its electric machinery rebuilding division at 825 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The renovated building, now used for storage, will become the company's main office.
The company already put a new roof on the building and had the asbestos removed, said Mike Kovach, president.
The city, which is providing a fa & ccedil;ade grant, approved replacing 102 single-pane windows in the building with glass block. The project will cost about $30,000, Kovach said. The company also will repave and landscape the grounds, he said.
Pedestrian bridge
The biggest change, however, will be the 50-foot-long pedestrian bridge linking the office and production buildings.
The bridge is needed because business today demands daily interaction among the front office, customers and production workers, Kovach said.
An office detached from production isn't efficient or good business, he said. Walking repeatedly between the two buildings in all types of weather isn't professional, he said.
"That's an old-style office. That's not the way it works anymore. We're hands-on. They're all one," Kovach said of his white- and blue-collar workers.
The bridge will be 14 feet 6 inches above ground so trucks can maneuver underneath.
The building renovation including the bridge will cost about $250,000, Kovach said.
The building has about 16,000 square feet, half of which the company will use. The rest could be leased, he said.
The company has two other city locations. The Rayen Avenue operation makes and fixes industrial machines. The Andrews Avenue site does the same type of work with lifting magnets.
rgsmith@vindy.com