Youngstown officials take first step to raze historic Paramount Theatre

YOUNGSTOWN — The city’s board of control today approved a $21,377 contract that is the first step in the proposed demolition of the Paramount Theatre in downtown Youngstown.

MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown would do an environmental and asbestos assessment of the historic building. City Finance Director David Bozanich estimates the cost of abatement and demolition at $700,000 to $1 million.

The city would seek state funding for the project, he said. The hope is to have it demolished sometime next year, Bozanich said.

The plan would be to keep the facade of the historic theater at 138 W. Federal St., by Hazel Street, intact, and to use the property for a parking lot and/or outdoor amphitheater, Bozanich said.

To restore it as a theater would cost about $10 million, he said.

The building opened in 1918 as the Liberty Theater and reopened about 10 years later as the Paramount. It closed more than 30 years ago.

While the building is boarded up, bricks and other pieces of the structure fall down from time to time, Bozanich said.

Louis Frangos of Cleveland, who owns several downtown properties, is the building’s majority owner. He purchased it with Grande Venues of Chicago in April 2006 for $79,900. American Tax Funding has a tax lien on the property, according to the Mahoning County auditor’s Web site.

For the complete story, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com