Wick Avenue Historic, Cultural and Educational
Assets. Smoky Hollow's location
reinforces the area's ability to support redevelopment.
Anchors of the Wick District-Smoky Hollow neighborhood
include:
• The expanding main public library branch.
• The world-renown Butler Institute of American
Art.
• A variety of churches.
• Several other museums, theaters, dance studios
and music halls are on campus or in the adjacent downtown.
The educational, cultural and religious
institutions that form the neighborhood's western edge
represent a tremendous asset. The concentration lends
a strong sense of vibrancy and stability. The institutions,
especially the different denominations of churches, attract
a wide variety of people and are notable regional draws.
The regional nature of the institutions provides the neighborhood
with significant visibility. Businesses in the adjacent
Andrews Avenue corridor also draw hundreds of workers
to the area every day.
Youngstown State University Expansions.
Youngstown State University trustees have
endorsed a new master plan that puts into place significant
upgrades to the campus.
In addition to the $22 million, 400-bed University Courtyard
Apartments that opened in 2003
and the $12 million Andrews Student Recreation Center
that opened in fall 2005, the Plan
includes:
• A new building for the YSU Williamson College
of Business Administration, planned to be ready by 2008.
• A major expansion of laboratories for Ward Beecher
Hall.
• A major renovation for Kilcawley Center, the student
union.
• A $1 million project to improve a main university
parking lot and visitor’s center.
• A new median planned to convert University Plaza,
YSU’s main street, into a boulevard.
Youngstown State features:
• About 12,400 students with a goal of reaching
14,000 in enrollment by the fall 2008.
• A 140-acre campus includes five residence halls,
each housing 1,000 students, and is among the safest campuses
in the state.
• 2,100 employees including more than 400 full-time
faculty members.
• A fiscal year 2005 operating budget of $141.7
million and a capital budget of $34.5 million.
• More than 100 undergraduate programs, 34 master’s
degree programs and a doctorate program in educational
leadership.
Downtown Youngstown.
Downtown Youngstown. The central business district is experiencing more investment and construction than at any time since the urban renewal projects of the 1960s:
- Investment in excess of $4 million is coming with the 35,000-square-foot, three-story Taft Technology Center. Construction is to begin soon next to the Youngstown Business Incubator on Federal Street downtown on space for high-tech companies that “graduate” from the incubator.
- A $3.8 million courthouse for the state 7th District Court of Appeals opened in May 2006.
- A $4.6 million, 600-seat recital hall was completed in 2006 that the Youngstown Symphony built next to the symphony’s historic downtown home, Edward W. Powers Auditorium.
- A $45 million, 5,700-seat arena opened in November 2005. The arena features minor league sports, concerts and other events.
- A four-story, $7 million office building for Mahoning County Children Services completed construction in 2005, a companion to a four-story, $8 million state office building erected a few years earlier.
- A $3 million renovation was completed in late 2004 of downtown’s main street, Federal Street. The project included removal of a pedestrian plaza and reopening the street to vehicle traffic, plus new curbs, sidewalks, streetlights and landscaping.
- A blighted block of vacant buildings on Federal Street was razed in early 2006 for use as a parking lot with potential for future development.
[to top]
The Smoky Hollow neighborhood holds a special place in Youngstown's history. The
neighborhood was the place immigrants who came to work in the nearby steel mills first
settled at the turn of the century. The neighborhood gets its name from the mill smoke
that also settled there. The neighborhood turned out many of the city's famous sons and
daughters. Scores of families across the region and nation proudly proclaim their Smoky
Hollow roots today. In addition, the Wick Neighbors, Inc. Board of Directors has an
extended network for marketing initiatives through their congregations, audiences,
faculty, student enrollment, civic organizations and resident participation.
A market study completed in October 2006 by Vogt, Williams & Bowen, a national real estate firm based in Columbus, has affirmed what Wick Neighbors, Inc. and friends have known for years: that healthy demand exists for new, for-sale housing in Smoky Hollow. Consumers willing to spend between $125,000 and $250,000 are looking for single-family homes, townhouses and condominiums.
Many area residents already have expressed a desire to live in Smoky Hollow if new housing is offered. A survey was compiled from Youngstown State University workers, retiring YSU alumni, city employees, workers at a large nearby hospital and members of Wick District Institutions. This survey showed:
- A majority of the respondents living in the city’s first ring suburbs would be interested in moving to Smoky Hollow once developed.
- The majority of positive responses were from Youngstown State University workers, city workers, and YSU alumni seeking to downsize and relocate to the city in their retirement.
- Over half of these positive respondents seeking to live in Smoky Hollow said they would prefer a single-family home or a condominium.
- Respondents said their main desire was for a safe neighborhood environment, and living in a mixed-use (residential, retail) urban community.
Smoky Hollow will provide the quality of living appealing to many throughout the region.
[to top]
Educational Institutions
Youngstown State University Campus
Ursuline High School
Choffin Career and Technical Center
Youngstown City Schools – Board of Education Headquarters
Religious Institutions
Holy Trinity Romanian Orthodox Church
St. John’s Episcopal Church
New Beginnings Outreach Ministries
Butler Memorial Church
First Presbyterian Church of Youngstown
Our Lady of Mount Carmel
St. Vincent DePaul
St. Cyril and Methodius
Cultural Institutions
Mahoning Valley Historical Society
Bliss Hall College of Fine and Performing Arts
Butler Institute of American Art
McDonough Museum of Art
Melnick Medical Museum
Civic Institutions
Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
YWCA
Masonic Hall
[to top]
