Downtown Comeback Effort to Begin with Free Concert

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Downtown has been struggling for the past three years, but it’s ready to turn on the “open for business” light and mount a comeback.

Toward that end, the city and its partners will throw a free, all-day bash Saturday, Oct. 19. The event, which has been dubbed The Open, will include live music, including Red Wanting Blue as the headliner at 9:45 p.m.

Also performing will be Youngstown’s House Band, the popular cover band, at 7:45 p.m.; Blaq Rose, a Youngstown-based R&B artist, at 6:15 p.m.; and Howard Howell, a Youngstown-based jazz-R&B artist, at 4 p.m. DJ Chip Banks will emcee the event.

A stage will be erected on West Federal Street, facing north into the Phelps Street pedestrian walkway.

The goal is to lure throngs back into the once-bustling downtown and kickstart its road back to being the entertainment mecca that it was before the pandemic and other factors left it a shadow of itself.

The date for The Open was carefully chosen to take advantage of the synergy from other events that day.

It will coincide with four other major events in the city:

• The Youngstown Film Festival, which is moving to the vacant site of the former Chase Bank downtown branch in the Chase Bank Building, West Federal Street at Central Square. It starts at noon.

• Youngstown State University football game against the University of South Dakota, at Stambaugh Stadium, at 6 p.m.

• “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” screening and party at Penguin City Brewing Co., 7 p.m.

• Youngstown Phantoms hockey game against the Lincoln Stars, at Covelli Centre, 6 p.m.

Oh Wow! The Children’s Center for Science and Technology will also be open that day, providing special programming for families.

The goal is to get people back in the habit of coming downtown for dining, nightlife and fun, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown said at a press conference Tuesday.

Downtown eating and drinking establishments have suffered a sharp downturn in business, and now is the time to reverse the trend, the mayor said.

A years-long street reconstruction project is coming to an end, and Central Square is on the verge of reopening after the deadly explosion at Realty Tower and its subsequent demolition.

Brown said it’s too soon to say whether Central Square will be reopened by Oct. 19, but he said it should be more accessible to traffic. 

“I spoke to the [Realty Building demolition] contractor today, and he’s talking about infilling [the large hole where the foundation was],” the mayor said. “It will be better than it is today, but I don’t want to say definitely that Central Square will be open [by then].”

Downtown restaurants and bars will be the only purveyors of food and drink for The Open, which will help them recover lost business.

The mayor said The Open is just the first step in downtown’s comeback. A series of events are planned, including an Oktoberfest; the Youngstown historical ghost walking tours in October, in which actors in costume reenact scenes; and the holiday parade in early December.

“We all have to do our part to ensure the success of our downtown,” Brown said. “We’ve done it in the past, and we have to get back to that.”

Brown assembled an advisory committee to lead the comeback, and it has been meeting weekly. Members include representatives of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber, JAC Management, The Youngstown Foundation, 717 Credit Union and other business leaders and sponsors.

“We’ve got to rebuild downtown to the place that we’ve loved to bring our families and friends to,” Brown said.

First Ward Councilman Julius Oliver, whose district includes downtown, spoke of the resiliency of downtown residents and stakeholders, especially businesses. “They could have left and went to greener pastures, but they didn’t,” Oliver said.

The city’s Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area should be enacted by the end of the year, Oliver said, and the goal is to have a constant series of events downtown to take advantage of it. In the DORA zone, patrons who buy an alcoholic beverage at a participating bar or restaurant can walk outdoors throughout the zone with the beverage.

Eric Ryan, president of JAC Management, put together the entertainment for the Oct. 19 event with a goal of having something for every visitor and business.

“We wanted to create an event that benefitted downtown businesses, to show people that we are open,” Ryan said. “These beautiful new streets and these businesses are now open, and that’s why we are calling it The Open.”

Large video screens will be brought in that day to show college football and other material, he said.

Guy Coviello, president and CEO of the Regional Chamber, said attracting new business downtown is part of the committee’s strategy.
“We have momentum from Steelite opening its corporate headquarters here,” Coviello said. “We have momentum from Zoetic opening a factory here. We have a lot of opportunities to replicate that, and we have lots of opportunities for mixed use development, especially residential.”
The committee will go “all out” to rebuild downtown to at least prepandemic levels, Coviello said, adding, “but we think it can be much bigger than that.”

Downtown Youngstown’s health became a priority for the Regional Chamber “when we started to feel the pain that the downtown businesses have been feeling since Covid,” Coviello said. “The series of things beyond their control [including street construction and the Realty Tower explosion] really decimated our downtown businesses, and it prompted us, as the largest business organization in the Valley, to have some sort of responsibility to help our members here.”

Pictured at top: From left are Eric Ryan, Councilman Julius Oliver, Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, John Demmler of 717 Credit Union and Lyle Huffman of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.