Thursday, November 27, 2014
Downtown Youngstown is the entertainment center of the Mahoning Valley, but it wasn’t always that way. A decade ago, it was more ghost town than party central.
Its rebirth can be traced directly to a bit of legislative action that quietly passed almost 10 years ago this month.
That action created the downtown entertainment district, which did nothing except create 15 new liquor licenses for the low cost of $2,300 apiece.
It’s anniversary wasn’t noted with any fanfare.
But maybe it should have been. Those liquor licenses were the spark that lit the fire, and a rare example of a political act that worked better than anyone could have imagined.
With liquor comes entertainment, and the new law transformed downtown. It created a movement that now has enough momentum to keep itself going.
And it’s all owed to the mostly forgotten efforts of an ad hoc group — now defunct — known as YAEDA (Youngstown Arts and Entertainment District Association). Its sole purpose was to change a state law so that smaller cities also could create entertainment districts.
Atty. Jeff Kurz was part of that original group, which also included Bob Schott, David Simon, Bobbie Ann Dunn, Frank Gaetano, Shirley Bartlett, Dennis Roller and Betsy Johnquest.
“We felt bars were recession-proof,” said Kurz. They were right about that.
The effort to win over then-Mayor George McKelvey and most of city council did not come easy at first. But eventually, all of them got behind the project.
In 2002, downtown Youngs-town nightlife meant Buffalo Wild Wings, the dingy Cedars rock ’n’ roll club and the unglamorous Draught House. It was nothing like the strip today, which includes at least a dozen bars and restaurants, with more on the way.
Kurz had just passed the bar exam and was taking court-appointed work and other cases while prepping for an interview at a Chicago law firm. One evening while having a beer at the B&O Station, he came across Bob Schott — who knows more about the bar business than anyone I’ve ever met — and the two got to talking. Schott, who teaches liquor law classes, had started YAEDA with the goal of changing the state’s entertainment district law so that cities with a population under 150,000 also could be eligible. The law was written exclusively for Columbus and is credited with transforming that city’s once-forlorn Short North neighborhood into the artsy enclave it is today.
The YAEDA effort gained steam when the city of Sandusky joined forces with it. State Rep. Chris Redfern of Sandusky wrote the law, which was passed in November 2004.
Kurz addressed the state legislature on the issue shortly before the bill was passed. He gave credit to then-law director John A. McNally, who is now the mayor, and Greg Morgione, assistant law director, for smoothing the measure through city hall.
As written, the law that passed enabled cities with a population of more than 20,000 to create the districts, provided they had at least $50 million in development under way within the boundaries. Youngstown had no trouble meeting that requirement, because Covelli Centre, the Ford Family Recital Hall, U.S. Bankruptcy Court and a few other projects were under construction in 2004.
In 2005, Kurz and his business partner, Brad Schwartz, got the first of the 15 new liquor licenses for their Imbibe martini bar. The two also got the final liquor license for their other nightspot, Ryes, located on the second floor of the same building. Ryes opened earlier this year.
The other liquor licenses went to Overture Restaurant, the Old Precinct (Suzie’s Dogs and Drafts is on the site now and holds the license), the Lemon Grove (O’Donold’s now has it), Rosetta Stone (now it’s Martini Bros. Burger Bar), the Youngstown Club (which got two licenses), Covelli Centre (which got five because of the large number of bars its sets up for events), Charlie Staples Restaurant, and Skeeter’s Jazz Bar (now Avalon Downtown Pizza).
Some other downtown spots that opened in recent years purchased existing liquor licenses for considerably higher prices.
Schott, who is now the manager of Vintage Estate in Boardman, said he’s proud when he looks at how downtown has blossomed. It’s all because of those additional liquor licenses, he said.
“There would have been no way to get those 15 liquor licenses all at once if not for that law,” he said. “It was like a gift from God.”