Institutions, Individuals Get CityScape Beautification Awards
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Youngstown CityScape honored a church, three businesses and 13 families and recognized Youngstown State University for its renovation and landscaping of Pollock House Tuesday night at its seventh annual Beautification Watch awards.
Pollock House, restored to its condition in the 1930s, is the home of the president of YSU. The university spent $4 million to restore the mansion designed by architect Charles Owsley.
Honored with the inaugural founder’s award was Linda Cochran for being the spark in the 1990s that ignited city beautification efforts that continue to this day. The award, to be called the Linda Cochran Founder’s Award, came as a complete surprise to Cochran, in town with her husband, former YSU President Leslie Cochran, to promote a novel he’s written.
Among the families recognized was that of Dan and Michelle O’Brien who took their residence on Glacier Heights Avenue and made it look the best it’s ever been. Dan O’Brien is a reporter and political cartoonist for The Business Journal.
When the O’Briens moved there, the ravine in their backyard was in bad repair, Dan O’Brien recalled. They cleaned it up and, as the executive director of CityScape, Sharon Letson, noted, the address boasts “a perfectly manicured lot that is a beautiful respite on Glacier Heights. The shade garden is filled with hostas, ferns in a terraced backyard. The walkway is edged and welcoming.”
O’Brien praised his neighbors for their efforts that complement his and his wife’s long hours and hard work.
City police officers nominated two of the families who received awards. Their nominations, Letson noted, point to both safer neighborhoods and that patrolmen are attentive and alert to what’s going on in the neighborhoods they protect.
Singled out were two murals, one in the Youngstown Business Incubator created and executed by six students at YSU, the other a huge mural on the side of the former Gollan’s Honda Motorcycle Shop, which reflects the vibrant nightlife of the downtown.
The 310-foot mural in the incubator, “The Metamorphosis Project,” spans its three buildings along West Federal Street. Its theme “blends the urban skyline of Youngstown with steel, technology and nature to show the growth and change of the city,” Letson said.
The Community Corrections Association commissioned artist Christian Mrosko to paint the mural celebrating the return of the arts and entertainment in the downtown.
Holy Apostles Roman Catholic Church at SS Peter and Paul Croatian Catholic Worship Site, 421 Covington St., was honored for having “beautiful flowers all around this church all four seasons,” Letson remarked. “Many volunteers” maintain the beauty of the site.
The others recognized for their extraordinary efforts and love of gardening are:
- Briel’s Flowers and Greenhouse, 23 S. Belle Vista Ave.
- Jane Burchett, Oakwood Gardens, for beautifying the lot next to her home on Oakwood Avenue.
- DJV Carpet and Supplies, 833 South Ave., owned by Sal Vecchione. “This year they added new signage and a flower bed,” Letson noted, to supplement years of effort to make the store and grounds a showcase.
- Peggy Bosela for the Triangular Oasis at Hubbard Road and Albert Street.
- Patricia and Willie Chatman, West Indianola Avenue.
- Dominic Fajohn, Glacierview Avenue.
- Donald and Joann Roberts, South Belle Vista Avenue.
- Jerald and Earlene Stewart, Goleta Avenue.
- Jason Ferguson, West Heights Avenue.
- Ali Sakkaf, Overlook Avenue.
- Charles and Sandra Turnage, West Boston Avenue.
- David Starr, Howard Street.
- Lillian Candelaria-Rivera and Eliezer Rivera, East Delason Avenue.
- Deborah and Otto Rosendary, Idora Avenue.