JOB AND FAMILY SERVICES County works on moving agency to Phar-Mor Centre

The relocation would be a further boost to redeveloping downtown.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County commissioners have their eyes on the Phar-Mor Centre building downtown as the future home of the county Department of Job and Family Services.
They are hoping to work with city officials on buttoning down a deal to relocate the county agency into the downtown building from the current JFS location in the McGuffey Plaza on the East Side.
"I am making that my No. 1 priority," said Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock.
"That would certainly be a crowning piece in downtown revitalization."
Commissioners have talked for years about finding a new location for JFS, which comprises the human services and child support enforcement agencies with a combined total 400 employees.
For years the two agencies were in separate buildings: CSEA in the Erie Terminal building on Commerce Street and human services in McGuffey Plaza. Last year, the CSEA moved into the McGuffey Plaza, which the county rents on a month-to-month basis.
One possibility
Operators of Oakhill Renaissance Place, formerly Southside Hospital, met with commissioners last week and pitched their facility as a potential new JFS location.
On Thursday, commissioners said they will consider that option, and others, but would prefer to move into the Phar-Mor building, which is largely vacant.
Sherlock and Commissioner Ed Reese said moving the government jobs downtown would be a huge boost to rebuilding the downtown district by attracting restaurants and other small businesses.
The county must work closely with city officials to see how the relocation would blend with the city's long-range development plans, Sherlock said.
That would include trying to find a way to fill the gap that would be left on the East Side if JFS moves out of there.
Similar project
She said Cuyahoga County and Cleveland are working on a similar project, and she hopes to have officials from that area come here to talk about how they've done it.
Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, said the city doesn't own the building, but will work with the county to help facilitate the move for the sake of development.
Reese said the county already has invested millions of dollars in downtown revitalization by contributing money toward a new state office building and making plans for new offices downtown for the Children Services Board and the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Sherlock said she's not sure whether the county could buy the building outright, or work with a private developer to buy the building and lease space to the county.
"Either way, we should work as quickly as possible to secure that facility and make this happen," Sherlock said.
Hopes to own
Commissioner David Ludt said he would prefer that the county own, rather than rent, a building.
"That way, no one can raise your rent," he said.
Ludt said he's keeping an open mind and will examine all options before making a decision.
The Phar-Mor Centre was built as a department store around 1910.
The building is owned by Strouss Building Associates, while the land on which it sits is owned by the Wick estate.