YSU seeking to get Wick-Pollock reopen

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University is working with a Maryland developer on a plan to get the Wick-Pollock Inn open again.

The inn, which is owned by the university, was forced to close for financial reasons in 1998.

Getting it refurbished and reopened has been a goal of YSU President David C. Sweet since he took over the reins of the university in 2000.

Atty. Gregory Morgione, YSU associate general counsel, said the university has recently negotiated lease terms with Reza Ghassemi, a developer from Maryland. Ghassemi is now seeking financing for the project, Morgione said.

The inn, built as a mansion by the Pollock family in the early 1890s, was given to the university in the late 1970s. It housed classrooms, offices and 14 guest suites before undergoing a 60-room expansion in 1980 when it became a full-service hotel operated by a private company under a lease arrangement with the university.

The structure is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Sweet has said frequently that he would like to see the building, its carriage house and gardens restored and perhaps a restaurant/catering service added to the operation.

For complete story, see Monday’s Vindicator or www.vindy.com.