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City buys former theater
Related: City will pay for air packs outright
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The former Paramount Theatre
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Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams
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A downtown Youngstown building still has scaffolding around it two years after it was erected. .
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The owners of a downtown Youngstown building on the corner of Wick Avenue and Commerce Street say they plan to take care of the structureÕs exterior problems. That would lead to the removal of scaffolding thatÕs been around the building for more than two years..
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Youngstown finance director David Bozanich
By DAVID SKOLNICK
YOUNGSTOWN
The city decided to buy a dilapidated downtown building and give the go-ahead to have major improvement work done to another downtown structure.
In a somewhat surprising move, city council voted Wednesday to buy the former Paramount Theater on the corner of West Federal and North Hazel streets for $80,000.
The move came a month after a majority of council members refused to buy the building.
The concern of those members was the liability of owning a structure in need of anywhere from $400,000 to $750,000 worth of asbestos abatement and demolition costs.
The city will seek money from the state’s Clean Ohio fund to pay for that work, Mayor Jay Williams said.
The city won’t hear whether it will get that money till May 2011, Williams said.
“We have every reason to believe we’ll get the Clean Ohio funds,” he said. “But, if not, we’ll seek other state funding.”
That means the city will be solely responsible for any problems at the building that has fallen into major disrepair.
Meanwhile, Brenda Williams, the city’s chief building official, approved the designs Wednesday to install a new granite exterior to the PNC Bank Building on the corner of Wick Avenue and Commerce Street.
The proposal still needs the approval of the city’s design review committee before a building permit could be given to Park South Development Co. LLC, the New York City company that owns the structure.
Scaffolding has surrounded the building for more than two years, with nothing done to improve the structure.
For the work to be done, more scaffolding would be needed, and Park South would have up to a year to make the improvements.
Park South put up the scaffolding in May 2008 at the city’s insistence after the company finally acknowledged that two large pieces of granite fell from the structure about 40 feet to the sidewalk below three years earlier.
Some council members voiced concern Wednesday about giving Park South another 12 months, particularly because a city-issued permit for the scaffolding expired Jan. 24. Park South didn’t seek an extension until last month.
Councilman Paul Drennen, D-5th, said he was “a little taken aback” to read an article in Wednesday’s Vindicator about the city considering the granting of a building permit.
“If we don’t hold them accountable, we’ll have the same conversation in July 2011 and it will be the same article in The Vindicator next year,” he said.
The mayor said the city is still considering legal action against Park South for keeping the scaffolding up six months after its permit expired.
Also, Williams said city officials will watch what Park South does with the building and not let the company use the permit as another way to delay improvement work.
Park South has been in litigation with the Cincinnati Insurance Co., the building’s insurance company, over the replacement of the granite.
Court records show Park South wants the insurance company to pay $3 million to replace all the granite, which Park South officials say wasn’t installed correctly. Cincinnati Insurance is willing to pay about $15,000 to replace the two pieces of fallen granite.
As for the former Paramount Theater property, some council members said they agreed to buy the building after having time to further examine the issue.
Finance Director David Bozanich told council on June 28 that as part of the deal, Louis Frangos, who owns the Paramount property, would also give a small piece of land, 0.035 of an acre, the city needs for an extension of Hazel Street.
While nothing new was disclosed at Wednesday’s council meeting, members followed Bozanich’s recommendation to purchase the theater property and get the small parcel at the intersection of West Commerce and Hazel streets as part of the deal.
The city wants to demolish the building, except its facade, and initially turn the property into a parking lot for water and wastewater customers who pay their bills at city hall a block away.
It’s easier to get Clean Ohio funds if a property is owned by a government entity, Bozanich said.
“Let’s say we don’t get the Clean Ohio funds, basically we’re stuck holding the bag on this,” Drennen said.
Frangos of Cleveland bought the building for $79,900 in April 2006, and said he’s spent more than $200,000 on consultants and restoration specialists to see what can be done with it.
It would cost between $9 million and $12 million to restore the building, which is cost-prohibitive, he said.