ISLE to Move Music Programs to S. Phelps St.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Two music-oriented programs operated by Iron and String Life Enhancement will relocate this spring to the buildings ISLE’s corporate offices occupy.

ISLE offers programs for the developmentally disabled, which include Golden String Radio, an internet radio station at its East Side campus and the Purple Cat music class in the Morley Building downtown.

The goal is to have Golden String Radio and the music class – which will operate under the heading of Purple Cat records — operating in the buildings at 12 and 16 S. Phelps St. by May 1, said James Sutman, ISLE president.

Youngstown’s Design Review committee approved ISLE’s proposed renovations to the facades of the buildings’ façade Tuesday.

The project will involve replacing the wainscoting across the front of the building at 12 S. Phelps with a porcelain exterior tile, said Dave Roose, project architect with Strollo Architects.

The exterior of the space, once a dentist’s office, had aluminum put on for security, Sutman said. “It’s got a fortress-like look and we want to open that up with glass,” he said.

A new, single canopy will cover both the storefront at 12 S. Phelps and the adjacent space, which will retain its exterior. “The awning will cover both so it will tie them both together,” he added.

The contractor, DeSalvo Construction, is still seeking estimates for the interior and exterior work, Roose said. He put the cost of the exterior work at $10,000 and the interior work double that. Interior work will include redoing the entire floor, he said.

“The inside space is going to be one space,” Sutman said. From the street, the public will be able to see Golden String’s disc jockeys on the one side. The other side will function as a recording studio and accommodate the Purple Cat music class, which has been growing, he continued.

An earlier plan called for Golden String to move into the ISLE building at 28-32 Fifth Ave., where it is moving its administrative offices from the South Phelps properties. The offices will still move there but with the growth of the music class it makes sense to have it and the radio station in the same space, Sutman said. The move of the ISLE offices is planned for Aug. 1.

Also during the meeting, the committee reviewed three projects funded by a $100,000 grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. Discussion of those installations consumed more than two-thirds of the 90-minute meeting.

Each project was awarded $20,000 through the Innovative Plan for Leveraging Arts Through Community Engagement – or Inplace — program.

The committee approved installing “Solar Screen,” a curved wall composed of 3-D printed ceramic bricks on the lawn adjacent to 107 Vindicator Square. All bricks will be embedded with a solar-powered light, Brian Peters said.

The committee also approved a shipping container bus shelter but asked Tony Armeni, one of the designers, to consider an alternate location to the proposed site in front of the Mahoning County Courthouse and to consult with the county commissioners about the proposed location.

Consideration of the third proposal, for decorative lighting of the abandoned railway viaduct above Mahoning Avenue between 513 and 535 Mahoning Ave., was deferred until the next meeting. Committee members asked grant recipient David Tamulonis to explore more diffuse lighting for inside the archway as well as an alternative solar power source. Otherwise the city would be responsible for paying for the lighting.

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