Festival celebrates the rejuvenation of South Side neighborhood

By DAVID SKOLNICK

skolnick@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

With the smell of barbecue chicken in the air and the sounds of kids cheering and playing, Idora Neighborhood residents and supporters celebrated improvements made to this South Side area.

“We want to thank the community for doing great things,” said Jim London, president of the Idora Neighborhood

Association, which organized the first IdoraFest, a block party

Saturday on McFarland

Avenue between Woodford and Parkview avenues, next to the location of the former Idora Park amusement park.

The Idora Neighborhood is in and around Old Furnace and Canfield roads, Glenwood Avenue and near Mill Creek Park. The area is about 1.2 miles wide and takes in about 600 houses, London said.

While much more work is needed in the neighborhood, about 50 vacant houses have been demolished, other vacant homes are painted and boarded up, new street signs with “Idora Neighborhood” on them are all over the community, several community gardens thrive here and regular neighborhood cleanups take place.

“Things are good here,” said John Lanning, who lives on Ottawa Drive with his wife and two daughters. “It’s about time the South Side gets back on its feet. It’s good to bring the community together for this. It makes the community stronger. We’re meeting our neighbors and making sure we watch out for each other.”

Lanning’s father, Donald, who moved from the neighborhood to Weathersfield in February so his son’s family could live in the Ottawa Drive home, frequently

returns to Idora.

“I’m seeing a very nice improvement,” the older Lanning said. “If only they could get more done. I wish they could do something with Idora Park itself.”

So does London.

The former urban amusement park, owned by the Mount Calvary Pentecostal Church, has been empty for several years.

London said he asked church officials three times if the block party could be held at the park but never received a response.

“We’re right on top of

Idora Park,” he said. “It would have been easier to use the park. We want this to be the start of an annual IdoraFest with a carnival in the park open to the public.”

Saturday’s festival included free food and beverages, games for children and face painting.

Members of the Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Austintown come to the Idora Neighborhood every month to help the association and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. repair and paint houses, and whatever else is asked of them, said Rick Stauffer, the church’s pastor.

“This is a long-term deal for us,” he said. “We believe in the investment being made here and want to help those who are making a difference.”