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Getty Grant to Fund YSU Preservation Project
By George NelsonYOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- About 20 years ago, the old Pollock House on Wick Avenue was destined for the wrecking ball before a student-led campaign convinced Youngstown State University officials to look at preserving and reusing the structure.Yesterday morning, in front of the Eugene and George Peck House -- just north of where the old Pollock House still stands, part of the former Wick-Pollock Inn that operated in the late 1980s and most of the '90s -- university and community leaders announced an initiative to examine the potential reuse of other buildings on and near the YSU campus. The initiative will be funded by a grant from the Getty, the prestigious cultural and philanthropic institution, based in Los Angeles that has awarded $100,000 to YSU. One of 25 grants awarded to colleges and universities nationwide under the Getty's Campus Heritage Initiative, the money will be used to help identify and preserve historic buildings on and near campus.Hunter Morrison, director of YSU'S Center for Urban and Regional Studies, said the mindset around historic preservation has changed around the country and in Ohio "from saving just the buildings that George Washington slept in -- the Mount Vernons of the world -- to understanding that buildings like the Peck House, like the Wick-Pollock, which are locally significant, important pieces is history, have value and they have continuing value." The YSU Center for Urban and Regional Studies led the effort to obtain the grant for the project, which will carried out in conjunction with Wick Neighbors Inc., a community group redeveloping the Smoky Hollow neighborhood near campus. Under the grant proposal, a study will be conducted to identify historically significant properties on and near the YSU campus including three churches on Wick Avenue -- with the intent of getting them placed on the National Register of Historic Places. A separate study will be done on the Peck House, built in 1888, and another university-owned property, the Rufus Thompson/Sackerman House on Lincoln Avenue, built in 1882, with the intent of determining a suitable reuse for them. The grant also will be used to fund a new educational program involving academic coursework through YSU and Kent State University, as well as a general public education effort that will include a walking tour of historic buildings on Wick Avenue.The three-pronged preservation program will be overseen by a steering committee that includes Morrison; John Hyden, YSU executive director of facilities; John Horner, chair of Wick Neighbors Inc.; and Margaret Murphy, Wick Neighbors executive director. David Reed, project manager of the Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio, will supervise the project.The collaborative nature of the project was just one of the elements of the YSU proposal that impressed the Getty's review committee, as well as the component to advance properties on the National Register listing, according to Antoine Wilmering, program officer with the Getty's grant program. Wilmering said Getty committee members felt the YSU proposal could serve as a "model project" for other colleges and universities. "It was a really strong and impressive project overall," he said. "This is very much a team effort," Morrison affirmed. He said the project offers "a remarkable opportunity for all of us to work together, to understand our assets and really give some substance to our goal in Youngstown 2010 to align Youngstown with the new economy by celebrating our past as we move into our future."Rev. Brittany Barber, pastor of First Christian Church of Youngstown and secretary of Wick Neighbors, described the project as "another step in our journey," noting that other significant steps include the opening of the Courtyard Apartments in Smoky Hollow. "We're excited about people beginning to look anew at Youngstown, at the historic treasures that we have here, while at the same time looking to create a new future for the heart of the city of Youngstown," she said. In terms of lasting importance, Morrison said, the most significant element of the project may be the educational component -- informing the public about the importance of preserving structures and historic landscapes such as Mill Creek Park, recently nominated to the National Register. "These are elements that make Youngstown what it is. They speak to our past," Morrison elaborated. "They're also building blocks for our future. We need to position Youngstown for the new economy and historic preservation, the authentic assets, are all part of what makes a community desirable and unique, and this is a starting point."Contact George Nelson at [email protected]"