Speaking of buildings

[Towntalk]

The building on the right was the Second National Bank Building that was located on the Northeast Corner of the Square where the Palace Theater later went.

The Court House was on the South East corner of Wick and Wood streets.

[northside lurker]

Those certainly were nice buildings.  Where was (and what was) the building on the right?

Which corner was the old court house on?  It looks like it was on the SE corner of Wick and Wood.

[Towntalk]

Now here is what I consider beautiful:

[northside lurker]

Hmmm, ones favorite time period for downtown is very subjective.  One of my favorite buildings is the Metro Tower.  I know it replaced a very interesting building, but I still prefer the Metro Tower.  So, I think my favorite time period for downtown would be about 1930.  Most of the landmarks were built by this time, but there was still some older stuff remaining.

A large part of what gives European cities their charm is "urban fabric."  Urban fabric is the collection of buildings between the monuments and tourist attractions.  Individually, these buildings usually aren't that special.  But together, they make the "fabric" that make European streets fun to walk down.  West Federal still has a little of this fabric intact.  East Federal does not, anymore.  IMO, the urban feel that W. Federal has, stops when you go east of the Realty and Stambaugh buildings.

I don't know if I'm explaining myself well, or not.  I'm trying to say that I'm not sentimental about these buildings either.  It's just that their character can't be replaced, and there is a value to their existence over flat asphalt.  A few evenings ago, I overheard part of a conversation with Hunter Morrisson about our city's attitude toward historic structures.  He was expressing his frustration that Youngstowners seem to have a hatred for anything old.  We seem to feel that, if it's old and not currently in use, it should be demolished.  This attitude is like throwing away Grandma's jewelry because we're not using it now, and can't imagine that we might want it again in the future.

[Towntalk]

If I could wave a magic wand, I would like Federal Street to look like it did in 1889 (See my Webshots site in the 1889 Buildings album).

As to the East End, I worked there for a couple of years after I got out of school, pre-urban renewal, and was familiar with three buildings there and believe me, they were nothing to write home about. It's really attractive now.

As to student housing I was referring to the three buildings you referred to.

I guess that while I'm a history buff as witnessed by my Webshots site and what I post here about Youngstown Memories, I'm not all that sentimental about old buildings that stand out as eyesores. 

[northside lurker]

Ultimately, what do you want downtown Youngstown to look like?

Personally, I wish downtown looked more like it did in 1950.  IMO, the revival of downtown would have been much stronger if so much of it hadn't been destroyed as part of "urban renewal."

While the buildings on E. Federal look nice on their own, (my office designed many of them ) the "feel" of E. Federal is not much different from some office park in any number of suburbs across the U.S.  At the rate we're going, if we keep tearing down buildings and leaving gaps, the rest of downtown will soon have the same bland feel.

To answer your posts more directly, The Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp. owns the Kress Building.  Here's the latest Vindy article I could find about the building: http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/apr/01/engineers-to-decide-soon-if-kress-building-stays/  I don't know what the engineers found.  The taxes are up to date.  They are only $2.96 a year, per the auditor's site.  Do you have a source for what the occupancy rates of downtown buildings are? (I'm not being snarky, I'd really like to know.)

Where's all this talk about converting buidings for YSU students?  As far as I know, only the Erie Terminal Building and the Federal Building have been planned for YSU student housing. (or possibly the Wick Building in lieu of the Erie Terminal Building...)  I don't think I've ever been an advocate of using downtown buildings for student housing. (at least not in the past few years.)  But I do think creating more housing options downtown is a great idea.

With these interesing buildings downtown being converted into student housing, why on Earth would anyone want to live in some boring new building?

Lastly, Smoky Hollow is not a YSU project.  And, everything I've heard indicates that it is not going to move forward anytime in the near future.

[Towntalk]

Question:

With YSU building a number of new buildings to house students why on earth would anyone want to move into a converted office building?

Every time one of the downtown buildings is brought up someone wants to see it turned into a housing project for university students. We're talking about YSU not a huge university like Ohio State.

When and if the university plans for Smokey Hollow are completed, there will be even less need for converted downtown locations unless we see a major explosion in student population.

[Towntalk]

Who owns the Kress building and what are they doing with it. Here's another case of an eyesore just sitting there in the heart of the city rotting away and most likely not paying taxes. At this stage is the building even worth saving? We know that most of the big buildings downtown are standing half empty as it is with no sign that businesses are willing to locate downtown.

If businesses were clammering to locate dwntown then it would be a whole new matter ... it would be a wise investment to buy an empty building and upgrade it, but as it stands right here and right now no one has stepped forward to locate downtown, and to just let buildings like the Kress building and the Paramount to stand just because some people go into a swoon over old, and go into pipe dreams about what could go there is unrealistic.

If the city were to gear up a major drive to locate businesses downtown with experts in the field of development heading the program up perhaps we could see some movement, but as it stands aside from the recent purchase of the Federal Building I don't see much movement in that direction, but do hear a lot of talk about converting buildings into high rise apartments for YSU students.

By the way, the northern area of YSU campus is really looking great between Wick and Elm street.