Downtown's newest tenant is a cat of a different color

A businessman calls his operation 'part of downtown's changing face.'
By ROGER G. SMITH
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jim Sutman likes to be creative.
For example, he named his new agency the Purple Cat. It's a takeoff on the legend of St. Columba, who was said to carry a silver-blue cat that looks almost purple.
The most creative thing Sutman has done lately, however, might be bringing the nontraditional business into the city's downtown.
The Purple Cat isn't an office, a shop or an eatery.
Instead, the agency, at 117 S. Champion St., provides job skills and arts education for mentally retarded and developmentally disabled people.
Why there?
"I'm a downtown guy. It was my first choice. I want downtown to come back," he said.
Company division
The Purple Cat, which opened last month, is a division of Sutman's company, Iron and String Life Enhancement. ISLE provides services such as group home and respite care for clients and their families.
Sutman brought his ISLE office downtown to 12 S. Phelps St., next to city hall, in February 2001. He renovated an old jewelry store into the office, but he didn't stop there. Sutman renovated the second floor into a loft space, where he and his wife have lived since.
He started the Purple Cat last fall in a building on Southern Boulevard but soon ran out of space.
The vocational agency has three employees now and will have six to seven eventually. The operation can handle up to 15 clients at a time.
Sutman looked all around Mahoning County for a new office, but he wanted to be downtown.
He can walk between his two offices. His clients can walk from the Purple Cat to the nearby YMCA. Downtown is centrally located so clients can be bused in from their outlying homes without much hassle.
Accommodating landlord
Sutman credits his landlord on Champion Street, the Ohio One Corp., for making the downtown location happen.
Ohio One owner Rich Mills donated thousands of dollars' worth of office furniture, upgrades to fire sprinklers and wiring, and even split the cost of a new awning, he said.
Most importantly, Mills gave him a chance, Sutman said.
A vocational school for mentally retarded and developmentally disabled people isn't what downtown property owners are used to in traditional office space, he said.
Such nontraditional uses of space will need to become routine for downtown to rebound, Sutman said.
"It's part of downtown's changing face," he said.
Mills admits he first questioned whether to lease his building to the Purple Cat. Mills, however, said Sutman explained how the business operates and persuaded him that the agency wouldn't pose any problems.
"I really liked his approach to helping the community," Mills said.
There haven't been any problems -- particularly with clients' being picked up and dropped off daily -- since the Purple Cat started operating last month, Mills said.
He should know.
Landlord lives upstairs
First, Ohio One Corp. uses the Champion Street building for storage. Mills said his workers haven't noticed any problems. Second, Mills lives above the Purple Cat. He turned the top floor into loft space 10 years ago.
The agency operates like any other business during the day, and the street is quiet at night, like most other spots downtown, Mills said.
Sutman's only trouble now is working through some city bureaucracy.
The city zoning appeals board recently deferred, for more study, a series of building variances he needs. Sutman said he moved in before receiving the variances because he needed the space immediately and the city took a long time to hear his case.
He also is trying to get the city to designate a pickup and drop-off zone in front of the building for his clients' buses. The city is reviewing the request.
Sutman said he knows red tape will be a factor when operating downtown, so it doesn't bother him. Being part of a downtown rebound is worth the inconvenience, he said.
rgsmith@vindy.com