Summer Festival of the Arts features jazz performances

YOUNGSTOWN — Harrison Common, a newly constructed parklet and public space at Youngstown State University, will be the setting for a jazz festival Saturday evening, part of YSU’s Summer Festival of the Arts.

Located on Walnut Street, across from the MVR restaurant in the historic Smoky Hollow neighborhood, Harrison Common gently rises above a large grassy area, with a baseball field at the far end.

A pergola — a wooden structure with a trellis roof — has been erected, along with a brick-paved plaza and landscaping, to form a stage that presides over a natural amphitheater.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday to open Harrison Common. The centerpiece of the park is a historic plat map of the Hollow, which was a bustling ethnic neighborhood in the first half of the 20th century.

Under the guidance of Wick Neighbors Inc., Smoky Hollow is being reborn as a neighborhood with new streets, sidewalks and an apartment complex. Plans call for more retail development. Wick Neighbors is a consortium comprised of YSU and the various religious and cultural establishments along Wick Avenue.

Last summer, the Youngstown Jazz Festival took place with national acts Spyro Gyra and David Benoit on Central Square in the downtown. It was sponsored by the Regional Chamber, and carried an admission charge.

Saturday’s event is being produced by YSU and the convention bureau, and is free. Teresa Weakley, news anchor for WKBN-TV 27, will be master of ceremonies.