22 years later, local artist spruces up YSU fire hydrants

YOUNGSTOWN — Local graphic artist Bob Barko Jr., who originally painted the Pete and Penny the Penguin fire hydrants on and around the Youngstown State University campus when he was a student in 1993, is giving many of the hydrants a much-needed facelift.

Barko, superintendent of public affairs for the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna and owner of Steel Town Studios, is giving a fresh coat of paint to 83 Pete the Penguin fire hydrants and one Penny the Penguin fire hydrant.

The original project included 124 hydrants painted as miniature versions of YSU’s mascot, Pete the Penguin, in an area from Wood Street to the North Side of Wick Park and from Smoky Hollow east of campus to Belmont Avenue on its west side.

Barko said the idea was introduced by then-YSU President Leslie Cochran as a way to display Penguin pride; and when Barko learned about it from an instructor he thought it would be a “great way to spend the summer.”

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com