YOUNGSTOWN Window maker to pay and end bankruptcy

Creditors will receive about 30 percent of claims, a lawyer said.
THE VINDICATOR
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- A local window maker that failed in its attempt to become a nationwide manufacturer is preparing to pay creditors and end its bankruptcy case.
American Architectural Products Corp., which used to be based in Boardman, has about $50 million after selling off its subsidiaries, equipment and other assets.
Unsecured creditors stand to be reimbursed for between 30 percent and 35 percent of their claims, said Michael Gallo, a lawyer for the creditors committee. Final amounts will be determined after disputed claims are settled, he said.
Gallo said the case was unusual because there was little secured debt, which is backed by a mortgage or lien to give it priority over unsecured claims.
Plan approved
Judge William Bodoh of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Youngstown approved the company's payment plan Tuesday.
Jordan Kroop, a lawyer for the company, said 77 creditors voted to support the plan, while one was opposed.
The company's shareholders will not receive any payments.
American Architectural filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000 and later stopped operations.
The company at one time had 3,500 employees, including about 300 locally. Besides its headquarters, it had operated an American Weather-Seal plant in Boardman, a VinylSource extrusion plant in Austintown and a Forte window plant in Youngstown.
Frank Amedia, who resigned as company president several months before the bankruptcy filing, turned the company into one of the nation's largest window makers but wasn't able to turn a profit. Through a series of acquisitions, the company's sales grew from $5 million in 1995 to $314 million in 1999.
The company reported a $47 million loss in 1999.
Company begins
Amedia, a former official at Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, started the company in 1986 by making screens in an East Side garage. He later joined with George Hofmeister, a Salem businessman who became company chairman, in trying to consolidate the fragmented industry of replacement windows.
shilling@vindy.com