Tyler History Center’s assets transcend time and space

The now open Tyler Mahoning Valley History Center rises in downtown Youngstown as a multidimensional asset in time and space.

The center pays homage to our region’s rich and diverse past, complements present revitalization of the downtown and stands as a promise to future generations that the Valley’s cultures and customs will continue to be carefully preserved and proudly displayed.

Those benefits result largely from the generosity of community benefactors who helped the Mahoning Valley Historical Society reach and surpass its $5 million goal toward making something old vibrantly new again.

That something old was the former Harry Burt/Ross Radio building, which the society purchased in 2008. In the early years of the 20th century, the space served as the launching pad for Burt’s world famous Good Humor ice cream bars — a Youngstown original.

The building’s place in history was sealed in 2006 when the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Parade magazine designated it as one of the 11 most historic places in America.

To embellish that standing, the MVHS purchased the building and began its massive fundraising campaign and renovation project. As usual, generous and community-minded Valley residents recognized the importance of the project and today, the goal has been achieved and the three-level building has opened to the public.

The Tyler Center complements but does not replace the MVHS’s existing Arms Family Museum on Wick Avenue in the former Arms family mansion. That site will continue to serve as prime exhibition space for such immensely popular shows as the “Memories of Christmas Past,” which opens Nov. 22 and of which The Vindicator is proud to be a sponsor.

Currently on exhibit at the Tyler Center are such pieces of our pop-culture past as a train car from the Wildcat roller coaster from Idora Park to a sound and video boom from the early days of television at 21 WFMJ-TV to a giant metal cheese bowl used by the Iseli family of Switzerland, founders of the legendary Youngstown-based Isaly’s deli and dairy chain.

Another illuminating exhibition explores the thriving clock-making industry in Trumbull County between 1813 and 1835.

Besides expanded exhibition space, the center also has become the new home of the MVHS archives that offer a more comfortable environment for local historians and the public to research the region’s history.

Incredible addition

But for all of its glory in celebrating the Mahoning Valley’s past, the Tyler Center also represents an incredible addition to a multitude of ongoing redevelopment projects revving up the downtown. The massively renovated building adds handsomely to the growing eclectic mix of shops, businesses, high-tech startup companies, retail and other establishments dotting the bustling West Federal Street corridor.

The Tyler Center also represents an investment in the future. To maximize that investment, Phase 2 of the fundraising drive for the center has begun with a less lofty goal of $1.5 million but with equally high levels of energy and enthusiasm. Those monies will go toward installation of a permanent exhibit, the development of educational programs and the establishment of endowments.

If all goes as hoped, the center will open its new permanent exhibit, “The People of the Mahoning Valley” by next September, the 140th anniversary of the MVHS. An investment in that campaign would be a fitting birthday gift to the society from those who recognize the importance of its mission and the quality of its work, most recently reinforced with the opening of the impressive Tyler Center.