CityScape seeks to save seven historic buildings

CityScape members think preservation is key to the rebirth of downtown.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Seven downtown buildings in danger of being lost to a wrecking ball are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Liberty Theater, whose architect also designed Radio City Music Hall.
Youngstown CityScape's education and Historic Preservation Committee presented its list of most endangered downtown buildings Thursday at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County's main branch on Wick Avenue.
The committee is focusing its efforts on downtown buildings between U.S. Route 422 and the Mahoning River.
Preservationists researching Liberty Theater said it may be the oldest surviving downtown movie house in Ohio. Designed by Detroit architect C. Howard Crane, Liberty Theater opened in 1918 and closed in the late 1970s. It now sits abandoned.
Also on the list are Welsh Congregational Church, built in 1861; the Thompson-Sacherman House and Wick-Pollock Inn, both built in the 1880s; the Kress Building, 1925; The Wells Building, 1917; and the State Theater, 1921.
Members encouraged those who attended the program to become involved by joining the committee, and to pursue preservation projects by seeking grants, financial partners and tax incentives.
Partners sought
Members said Youngstown State University, for example, owns the Wick-Pollock Inn and is seeking financial partners to reopen it as a working inn.
Members of area trade unions are helping to preserve Welsh Congregational Church, but volunteers in that effort also need financial backing to at least preserve the exterior and prevent further decay.
CityScape members think preservation of Youngstown's remaining landmark buildings is key to the rebirth of downtown.
They said the trend in urban planning is new urbanism -- creating downtown living spaces to bring people from the suburbs back to the city, and many downtown buildings can become what they once were.
Members think downtown buildings can be preserved and once again be used as designers originally intended, with office and retail space on lower levels and living spaces above.
Holly Burnett-Hanley of Youngstown State University's Center for Urban and Regional Studies and CityScape preservation committee co-chairperson with architect Ron Faniro, said the goal is to create viable living spaces. Then people moving back to downtown will create a need for more downtown businesses.
"Join us and be part of the movement for restoration," Burnett-Hanley said.
"Cleveland and Pittsburgh have restored their downtowns, so it can be done," she said. "Visit those places and see it. They restored downtown and are making money."
Strong buildings
Burnett-Hanley said most buildings constructed in the late 1800s through the 1950s are ultra strong and worth saving.
"We lost half our population in the 1970s, she said. "Youngstown's 2010 plan is about downsizing gracefully. We can find new uses for many buildings and have to let go of some others."
Sharon Letson, CityScape executive director, said the construction of the Chevrolet Centre and the Youngstown 2010 plan spurred an expanded mission and vision of Youngstown CityScape.
"The look of downtown is different now," she said. "It's cleaner and brighter, and there's a lot more foot traffic. People are more enthusiastic than I've seen in a long time.
"The city and the university [YSU] are working together. People are talking and coming up with a downtown plan. Now is the time to move forward."
The library co-sponsored Thursday's event, in partnership with The American Institute of Architects Eastern Ohio Chapter, Mahoning Valley Historical Society, Young Leaders Advisory Board and Youngstown State University Center for Historic Preservation and Center for Urban and Regional Studies.
tullis@vindy.com