Pig Iron plans fundraiser to save building

Staff report

Youngstown

Pig Iron Press, which is in danger of losing its downtown building, will have a wine and craft-beer tasting from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday to raise funds.

The event, which will be at the independent publishing company’s building at 26 N. Phelps St., is part of the Save Pig Iron Press campaign, which aims to raise money to pay off $6,238 owed to the lien holder for its tax bill and to renovate the 1910 building. The building will be sold at sheriff’s sale March 5 if the payment is not made.

Friday’s event will include a basket auction, raffles, refreshments and musical entertainment. The goal is to raise $15,000. Admission is $20.

The wine and beer tasting will be the second Pig Iron Press fundraiser this year. The first, a Groundhog Day potluck dinner Feb. 2, drew 47 people and raised $900, bringing the campaign account total to $1,181.

Those who can’t attend Friday’s event can send donations to Pig Iron Press, PO Box 237, Youngstown, OH 44501. Donations also can be made in person at Pig Iron, or at any First National Bank location, where a Save Pig Iron Press account has been set up. Make checks payable to Save Pig Iron Press.

Those who donate more than $1 will have their name mounted on a plaque inside the building after the restoration is complete.

Built in 1910, the Pig Iron Press building is a three- story commercial structure, 18 feet wide and 85 feet deep. Pig Iron owner-operator Jim Villani started the company in 1973 and purchased the building in 1993.

Unique aspects of the building include two mezzanines, a working antique freight elevator, lathe plaster on the first and second floors, a winding wooden staircase, windows in the front and back, and no interior partitions.

Restoration plans call for pressure-cleaning the facades, replacing interior ceiling lights, repainting the interior walls and ceilings, replacing doors and sinks, insulating the ceiling, restoring the oak floor, and replacing floor tile. The Depression-era decor will be preserved. To learn more, call Villani at 330-747-6932.