Youngstown Renaissance Bus Tour to Highlight ‘Transformation’
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Youngstown Renaissance Bus Tour will give residents a look at the “transformation taking shape on Youngstown’s South Side.”
The bus tour will visit seven stops from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.
Tour participants will meet at South High School, 1833 Market St., to begin the tour and catch the bus to six additional stops. The event is open to the public. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from Glenwood Grounds, 2906 Glenwood Ave., or by contacting Vicki Vicars, one of the tour organizers, director of mission, equity and resilience at Youngstown’s Ursuline Sisters Mission and director of advancement for Thrive Mahoning Valley, at 330 717 8953.
“The South Side is filled with incredible people, thriving nonprofits, healthy businesses and faith-filled church communities,” Vicars said. “This is what this tour is about. Come meet positive people and visit institutions that are pouring hope and renewal into this community.”
The motor coach tour bus will accommodate up to 80 participants. Tour guides and site hosts will provide information about the interconnected visions for revitalization, economic development and community engagement. Participants will enjoy free coffee and a muffin at the Glenwood Grounds stop.
The seven tour stops include:
- South Side High School.
- The Oak Hill Collaborative.
- St. Patrick Church.
- Ford Nature Center.
- The Youngstown Playhouse.
- Bernard Street Development.
- Glenwood Grounds.
Parking is available at South High, where participants will board the bus. At the completion of the tour, the bus will return to South High.
“Please come and be a part of building community, building our future,” tour organizer Jon Howell said. “This tour will give participants a revelation of the transformation taking shape on Youngstown’s South Side.”
South High School was constructed in 1911 and served generations of Youngstown students and the South Side community for more than 80 years. Youngstown Jubilee Urban Development purchased the historic building this year and launched the South High Revitalization Project, with a vision for the restored South High to serve as an anchor to contribute to the vitality and growth of the city’s South Side.
The Oak Hill Collaborative was birthed out of social justice and community improvement activities by members of St. Patrick Church, on Oak Hill Avenue. The Oak Hill Maker Space is integral to the organization’s neighborhood revitalization and business incubator initiatives.
Participants include makers, inventors, hobbyists, hackers, artisans, students, teachers, do- gooders and do-it-yourselfers. The organization’s business incubator has assisted small businesses throughout the Mahoning Valley with office space, business planning, grant writing and networking.
St. Patrick Church’s Oak Hill Avenue building was completed in 1926. Constructed in the Gothic Revival style, the structure is known for its ornate wood and brick work, 80-foot ceilings and 72 stained-glass windows. St. Patrick has long been an anchor of Youngstown’s Oak Hill neighborhood. The church traces its legacy of community involvement back to its establishment as a parish in 1911. Members of the multicultural congregation are dedicated to enriching the spiritual life of the community and are intentional about serving the neighborhood.
The Ford Nature Center, housed in a donated stone mansion in the northern part of Mill Creek Park, opened its doors to the public in the 1970s as the headquarters for the park’s nature education programs. In 2023, the center completed a substantial, comprehensive redevelopment project aimed at improving and expanding its facilities to better serve Youngstown’s nature education needs.
The Youngstown Playhouse, originally formed in 1924, moved to its current home on Glenwood Avenue in 1959. It continues on a 100-year legacy of live community theater for northeastern Ohio, staging classic performances and modern productions for audiences numbering more than 9,000 individuals of all ages annually. The Youth Theatre Program serves nearly 150 participants through classes, workshops and fully staged productions, which are attended by more than 1,000 local public school students annually.
The Bernard Street Housing Development, underway in the Glenwood Corridor, aims to encourage additional investment and home ownership near the north end of Glenwood Avenue, across the street from the Volney Rogers field and tennis courts. In the first phase of the project, three new homes are under construction on Bernard Street, formerly Cliff Street, which has been closed by barricades for several years. The energy-efficient homes will be approximately 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a first floor laundry, an open concept kitchen and living area and a two-car attached garage.
The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation is planning to build three additional homes on the street in a second phase. The project will also include replacement of broken and failing sidewalks and the street itself.
Glenwood Grounds opened in 2022 in a historic building that was constructed in 1925 as a retail store in the thriving Glenwood corridor. Glenwood Grounds is a neighborhood outreach of Hope for Renewal, a nonprofit ministry established by Gary and Cindy Koerth as an outgrowth of their revitalization efforts within the Glenwood-area neighborhood for more than a decade.
Pictured at top: Glenwood Grounds in Youngstown.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
