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West Side library gets big gift, named Michael Kusalaba Branch
YOUNGSTOWN
The new West Side Branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County will be named the Michael Kusalaba Branch, in memory of the electrical engineer who was a 1964 Chaney High School graduate and died in 2009.
Heidi Daniel, library director, and Jan Strasfeld, executive director of the Youngstown Foundation, announced Friday that the Michael Kusalaba Fund has agreed to donate $1.68 million toward the project in exchange for the naming rights.
Their announcement immediately followed approval by the library board of trustees’ development committee of a memorandum of understanding with the foundation concerning the building’s naming rights.
In August, Daniel proposed to the library system trustees a $2.8 million project in which the existing deteriorating branch at 2815 Mahoning Ave. will be demolished and replaced with a new building on the same library-owned site.
The new, single-story building, to open in 2017, will heavily emphasize technology and have meeting and study rooms.
It will serve as a neighborhood branch and as a place to house materials and vehicles for “pop-up” libraries that visit housing projects, schools and community events.
Also in August, the library board adopted a naming-rights policy for its buildings, which says such rights may be granted to a donor who contributes at least 60 percent of the estimated project cost.
“The location is perfect for this type of a contribution because it’s really going to anchor that part of the city,” said Tom Frost, library trustee.
The site is convenient for both Youngstown and Austintown residents, Mayor John A. McNally observed.
Strasfeld said that the location is on a regular bus route and within walking distance for many West Side children.
“The spirit of giving that has infused the community, and this is the latest example of it, just amazes me,” said Tim Bresnahan, library trustee.
Strasfeld told the committee that the gift to the library system is the largest grant made by the Youngstown Foundation in its 97-year history.
The first installment of the gift will be paid in 2016, with the last payment to be made no later than Dec. 30, 2021, according to the memorandum between the library system and the Youngstown Foundation.
Kusalaba, who worked for the Ohio Edison Co. for more than 30 years and retired as a national account executive, established the fund in his name with the foundation three months before his death, Strasfeld said.
Kusalaba moved with his family from West Germany to Youngstown when he was a young child and resided near the library on North Maryland Avenue.
His siblings, who are advisers to the fund, recalled that, as children, they walked to the library almost daily.
Kusalaba was a trustee of the CASTLO Community Improvement Corp. for 21 years, serving 10 years as board chairman.