Wells building evolving into place to call home


YOUNGSTOWN

The terra cotta exterior on the Wells Building gleams in the sunlight.

The edges, fine details and beauty of the clay facade built in 1917 come to life.

There is life, too, inside the building at 201 W. Federal St. downtown.

Employees at Strollo Architects work on computers, sift through papers and discuss projects while surrounded by the energy that envelops downtown Youngstown.

This is the new Wells Building: A place people can call home.

Its inhabitants are no longer pigeons, but architects and apartment renters with a penchant for city life.

“We are pretty confident this [firm] will continue,” said Greg Strollo, president and principal of Strollo Architects. “We think this should be our last home. It’s not by accident that we took the first floor to show life down here.”

Strollo Architects was born 60 years ago on Rayen Avenue in Youngstown. The firm moved in the 1960s to Lincoln Avenue and then moved again into the Phar-Mor Centre on Federal Street.

Through his involvement to reinvigorate the city on various boards like the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., Strollo had knowledge of the Wells Building. In 2011, the architecture firm decided to enter a proposal to receive historical state and federal tax credits.

The plan was first to renovate the vacant Wells Building into office and retail spaces until Strollo realized that wasn’t what the market needed.

So, the proposal was amended for office and apartment space.

The Wells Building was originally a retail space and then it became an armed forces recruiting station.

Read more about the project in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.

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