YOUNGSTOWN Preserving a future for houses of faith

The Sacred Landmarks Forum will include talks by local clergy.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A forum on religious buildings will help show area congregations how they can preserve their buildings and use them as catalysts for neighborhood revitalization.
The Sacred Landmarks Forum will discuss using the buildings as centers for worship, community ministries, the arts and education, or using former religious buildings for new purposes.
The program will include talks by local clergy who have been involved in renovation and development efforts, including the Wick Neighbors' plan to spend $250 million to revitalize Smoky Hollow as a residential neighborhood.
The daylong forum will be presented at Youngstown State University on Sept. 19.
The forum is an offshoot of the Sacred Landmarks Partnership consisting of YSU, Cleveland State University, Kent State University, the University of Akron and Lorain County Community College. The program is run through the urban university program center at those schools.
Taking inventory
YSU's Center for Urban and Regional Studies has already inventoried the 387 houses of worship in Mahoning County, said Norma J. Stefanik, a research associate and urban designer at the center.
Photographs have been taken of all but three of the structures. Eventually, the photos and information about the congregations will be posed on the Internet.
The inventory didn't determine the number of former church buildings that remain in the area.
One of the speakers at the forum will be John Nottingham, co-president of Nottingham-Spirk Design, which is turning the former First Church of Christ, Scientist in Cleveland's Little Italy into office and design space.
The forum includes information on the Cleveland Restoration Society's Sacred Landmarks Program. The nonprofit society tries to find economical ways to preserve Northeast Ohio's architecture.
XFor more information, call (330) 941-3493 or e-mail njstefanik@ysu.edu.