YSU negotiates lease to reopen historical site

The hospitality management program at YSU could be part of the operation.

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.

Lien issue

The property was tied up in a legal battle with First National Bank of Pennsylvania for a number of years over a property lien on money borrowed by the inn operator to make the expansion.

That issue was resolved in 2004 with YSU paying the bank $500,000, and the university has been actively seeking a development partner since then.

Morgione said both the university and Ghassemi have expressed interest in incorporating YSU’s hospitality management program into the inn’s operation, providing a training ground for students enrolled in that field of study.

Restoration of the inn and carriage house is part of the university’s Centennial Plan put together to mark YSU’s 100th anniversary in 2008.

The university already has some privately donated funds dedicated to that purpose. The estate of the late George M. and Helen L. Kohut gave YSU a $160,000 contribution earmarked for the restoration.