Architects to begin designing courthouse

The study would take up to five months to be finished.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
CITY HALL REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city is giving an architectural firm the go-ahead to design plans and determine a cost estimate to build a new court-house at the former Masters building complex.
Olsavsky-Jaminet Architects will take up to five months for the work. The Youngstown-based company will receive 72,800 from the city court's facility fund for the work. The company already received 23,000 for preliminary work on the proposed courthouse.
The city board of control is expected sometime next month to hire Strollo Architects Inc., a Youngstown company, for up to 25,000 to act as "an additional set of eyes and ears" and to help come up with a project cost estimate, said Carmen S. Conglose Sr., deputy director of the city's public works department.
Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr., Youngstown Municipal Court's presiding and administrative judge, said he expects the work to be done in less than five months because Olsavsky-Jaminet has been involved with the project for four years. He also said the 95,800 fee from the company is deeply discounted because of Olsavsky-Jaminet's commitment to Youngstown.
Cost estimate
The most important aspect of this project, the judge said, is the cost estimate.
The preliminary estimate on a new courthouse is 8 million.
"That amount isn't manageable," said Mayor Jay Williams. "We need a dollar amount before we go further. The 8 million wasn't specific. It was a general number."
Willliams has said 4 million to 5 million is manageable.
The judges have collected 14 court fees for the proposed facility for the past eight years. The fund has more than 1 million in it.
Once the cost estimate is determined, city and court officials can develop a financial plan to build a courthouse on the former Masters property on West Federal Street and Vindicator Square, Judge Douglas said.
That complex, demolished last year, is owned by the Youngstown Area Central Improvement Corp., a downtown property redevelopment agency. It is currently being used as a parking lot. The agency has agreed to give the court the first option on any development at the location.
City hall location
The current court on the second floor of city hall on the corner of West Boardman and Phelps streets is too small, in poor shape and unsafe, judges and city officials say.
Williams said if the courts move out of city hall, there are a number of city agencies that could use the space, including the planning department, the housing and demolition department, buildings and grounds, the Community Development Agency and a proposed human resources department.
The first three departments are located in cramped quarters at city hall. The CDA is in the city annex building on the corner of Market and Front streets. The city also rents space at the annex to the Mahoning-Columbiana Training Association.
If the CDA moves to the second floor of city hall, Williams said, it is possible the city would relocate its police department from the station attached to city hall to the annex. The police station is in poor condition, he said.
It would be too expensive to demolish the 74-year-old city annex, Williams said. Work would need to be done to the annex if the police department moved there, he said.
skolnick@vindy.com