Downtown Youngstown bracing for PARTY TIME

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By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Ohio primary election is over, but today we’re going to find out how the two-party system works.

That’s because there will be two parties going on in downtown Youngstown.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, and establishments in the bar district along West Federal Street will be playing Irish music and pouring green beer all day.

Around dinner time, roughly 7,000 Carrie Underwood fans will crash this “green party” because the country-pop princess has a concert at Covelli Centre.

Because of the influx of people on a workday, no downtown streets will be closed. On past St. Pat’s Days, streets were closed to create a festival atmosphere. But city officials want to keep the traffic flowing and not confuse out-of-town drivers with detours.

To keep the cars and crowds on track and safe, there will be an increased police presence in the downtown area, said Lt. William Ross of the Youngstown Police Department. Police will, as always, direct traffic at the intersection of Market and Front streets, and in front of Covelli Centre, before and after the concert.

The St. Patrick synergy should have bars and restaurants rolling in the green, and a check of owners indicates they are ready for the crowds.

The two-party system will repeat itself in five days, but probably to a lesser extent. That’s because on Tuesday, Elton John will play Covelli Centre, while ZZ Top plays at Stambaugh Auditorium.

Those two concerts will lure close to 10,000 people to the center of the city, with about 7,000 at Elton John and about 2,500 at ZZ Top.

Because Stambaugh is on the North Side, the impact on downtown should be lessened.

Kelsey Rupert, marketing director of Covelli Centre, said that to her knowledge, the Underwood and John concerts will bookend the best one-week period for concerts ever at the arena.

Underwood’s concert is expected to be a dazzling spectacle. Roadies will set up the stage today.

Although the concert is sold out (except for a few single seats), Rupert said it is possible that additional seats will be added to the floor after the stage is up. If that happens, an announcement will be made.

Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com, at the box office and by phone at 800-745-3000.