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Historic house on YSU campus placed back on demolition list
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
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The Thompson-Sacherman House on Lincoln Avenue has been cited by the city for property maintenance violations. YSU will demolish the house, citing its deteriorated condition, the cost to repair and renovate it and a lack of an identified educational use for it.
Nearly a year after the historic Thompson-Sacherman House on the Youngstown State University campus got a temporary reprieve from the wrecking ball, it’s again set for demolition.
The house has been cited by the city for property maintenance violations. It was built in 1882 by Rufus F. Thompson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
John Hyden, executive director of facilities, said that to make the house compliant with the city code, windows and siding would have to be replaced.
“Just add it to the list of houses in the city of Youngstown that have been waiting to be demolished,” quipped Trustee Harry Meshel at a meeting Tuesday of the Finance and Facilities Committee of YSU trustees.
Gene Grilli, vice president for finance and administration, said that some community members asked the university last year to save that house on Lincoln Avenue as well as the Peck House on Wick Avenue. Those requests came after the university said it planned to demolish the structures, citing the cost to repair them and a lack of an identified educational use.
That led to the formation of a committee to study the issues and to see if there’s a better alternative that would save the two houses and Pilgrim Collegiate Church on Wick.
To date, no uses have been identified by either external members of the committee or those on campus, Grilli said. The committee issued a request for proposals regarding the three buildings but received no responses.
“We’re moving forward with demolition of the Sacherman House,” he said.
Hyden said the university is assembling a package for buildings to be demolished including the Thompson-Sacherman House.
Grilli said the future of the Peck House and the Pilgrim Collegiate Church haven’t been determined.
The Peck House is in the Wick Avenue Historic District and was built in 1887 for Dr. George and Emeline Peck. It’s one of six mansions remaining on Wick.
The church was built in 1922.
At a trustees’ audit committee meeting, members heard from auditors from Packer Thomas regarding a report on athletics at YSU.
One of the findings and recommendations in the report is that the university consider cross-checking student athletes’ automobile-registration forms with the university’s parking database to identify conflicting information.
“The importance of this process is to reduce the risk of student athletes receiving disallowed benefits through the use of automobiles,” the auditors wrote. “This has been the source of numerous NCAA violations at other universities in the past.”
In its response, the athletics department cited limited personnel resources.
Trustee Leonard D. Schiavone said it’s something the university should consider.
“It’s a small issue that could result in very big problems,” he said.