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ISLE Eyes Luncheonette, Bakery for Downtown
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Downtown workers and residents next year could find breakfast being served at a storefront that recently housed a clothing store.
Iron and String Life Enhancement Inc., plans to open the Sugar Plum bakery/luncheonette in the former Two Guys Clothing store, at 107 W. Federal St. ISLE purchased the building last year, said Jimmy Sutman, president of the nonprofit organization. Similar to the Touch the Moon Candy Saloon that ISLE operates on Phelps Street downtown, Sugar Plum will be staffed by individuals in ISLE’s programs.
ISLE provides day services for individuals with developmental disabilities. It also operates the Purple Cat workshop downtown, the Purple Cat at Farmer Casey’s Ranch in Coitsville and the Purple Cat Pearl Street Mission.
“We have a full kitchen at the Pearl Street Mission on the East Side,” he explained. “It’s somewhat of a training kitchen but we actually produce hot lunches there and a lot of my folks have demonstrated an affinity and are pretty efficient at cooking, and need minimal supervision."
The city’s Design Review Committee will consider a request to demolish the Two Guys storefront and façade, and to add new glass and masonry, planters, lighting, signage and security gate. “We’ve seen what other cities are doing with green facades. We’re looking at having some plant life on the front of the building while maintaining the integrity of its history,” he said.
Sutman is working with Paul Hagman from Faniro Architects Inc. on the plans.
The dining area will have eight- to 10 booths and about as many tables, Sutman said. The kitchen space will be large enough to accommodate the needs of the individuals who will be working there. Plans call for the upper floor to be developed for residential space, and the main floor to have retail space as a tie-in to the nearby Touch the Moon. The building has been gutted and Sutman is seeking estimates on utility work. He expects Sugar Plum to open sometime in 2013.
“I live downtown so it’s going to be very easy for me to monitor things and make sure my folks are doing what they should be doing, and that the business is running correctly,” he said.
The intended site for Sugar Plum is next to the Kress Building, which at one point Sutman considered purchasing to expand the Purple Cat downtown day program. Purple Cat is housed in the Rica Building on South Champion Street.
The Kress Building has suffered extensive damage from a hole in its roof that's been there for more than 20 years. Sutman estimated basic renovation work there would cost in excess of $3.2 million. “It was economically too big for us,” he said.
Now that Sutman is no longer pursuing the Kress Building, the Youngstown Central Area Community Improvement Corp., which owns the building, is “taking another look at the building conditions,” said Dave Kosec, project manager with the CIC. At present, there are no other prospects for the property, he acknowledged.
The Kress Building is attached to the rear of ISLE’s offices on South Phelps and is connected to the former Two Guys building.
“We definitely don’t want to see it go anywhere. Its history is important to this street and to the downtown area,” Sutman said. “I hope somebody finds it and likes it as much as I did.”
Purple Cat still needs additional space, Sutman said. To that end, he has dmet with Rich Mills of Ohio One Corp., which owns the Rica Building, as well as downtown property owners Dominic Gatta III and Dominic Marchionda. Sutman said he wants to maintain a presence downtown.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.