WICK-POLLOCK INN No deal yet in case of lien dispute

The facility would include a restaurant and catering service.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Youngstown State University is still awaiting a court settlement that officials hope will permit them to proceed with plans to reopen the Wick-Pollock Inn.
This spring, attorneys representing YSU and First National Bank of Pennsylvania said a settlement in the Ohio court of claims case in Columbus was forthcoming and would be ready on or before June 1.
But an agreement regarding the lien dispute has yet to be inked, Ron Cole, YSU spokesman, said Friday.
"It seems to be dragging on," Cole said, though he added that the sides still appear close to settling the issue.
"It's just a matter of getting lawyers together," Cole added.
Here's the situation
YSU owns the inn, located on Wick Avenue north of downtown. But the bank holds a lien on a 64-room addition to the structure, which originally was a mansion constructed more than a century ago.
The addition was built in the late 1980s by a partnership that leased space from the university.
Blaming sluggish business, the partnership closed the inn in 1998, and it has been vacant ever since.
Two years ago, YSU sued to evict the bank, which asked for $2.5 million in damages, contending the university blocked the reopening of the inn as student housing.
YSU President Dr. David Sweet has said he wants the university to reopen the inn.
Besides offering lodging, Sweet said the inn also could feature a catering service and restaurant. Also proposed is having the complex house the university's hospitality management program.
Sweet has said it is one of his priorities to restore the historic inn, its carriage house and gardens.