Downtown Restaurant, Events Center Get OK for Signage

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Varsity Club will become downtown’s newest restaurant-bar when it opens in November. To help it get ready, the city’s design review committee approved two measures Tuesday.

John Rudy, who will own and operate the establishment, requested to post a temporary 12-foot-long vinyl sign to announce the grand opening, which will be Nov. 29 – Black Friday. The sign would be mounted along the building’s side wall along North Hazel Street, overlooking what will become a patio for dining. It will be removed when the restaurant opens.

The Varsity Club will be a full-service restaurant and bar with a Youngstown State University sports theme. Its main entrance will be on West Commerce Street.

Rudy is the former owner of The Magic Tree bar and restaurant in Boardman.

Brian Angellili, owner and developer of the Gallagher Building, which includes the Varsity Club on its ground floor and apartments on the upper floors, also appeared before the committee. He requested permission to put a walk-in food refrigerator in the alley at the rear of the building that would be used by Varsity Club cooks.

The walk-in cooler would block the alley completely and be hidden by a decorative vinyl fence that would be taller than the cooler. The city and Angellili are aware of a problem with loiterers gathering in the alley and say the cooler project would eliminate it.

Angelilli noted that the cooler is not a permanent structure, and therefore could be removed if the city wanted to reopen the right of way in the future. The design review committee approved the request contingent upon the fencing style and other issues.

The committee also approved several other requests that will now be considered by City Council. They are:

• Apollo Events Center, 117 S. Champion St., downtown, requested approval to erect a vertical sign that bears its name directly above the entrance door. John Orsini of BHSM Architects, representative for the project, said Apollo is also requesting to put signage on the building’s front windows on either side of the entrance, as well as directional signage to guide visitors to the upper floors. BHSM is a tenant of the building’s second floor. Steelite International leases apartment space on the third floor for visiting businessmen, and the fourth floor is a private residence. The Apollo Events Center, owned by Tim Huber, will be a banquet facility and party rental space. It will likely be ready to open in a couple of months.

• Buckeye PACE Senior Center and Clinic: Signage and other exterior improvements were requested by John Gemler of Life of NWPA, which is transforming a former Rite Aid store building at 2701 Market St. into a business that helps senior citizens continue to live in their homes. The center is expected to open in October 2025, Gemler said.

• Kedplasma USA center: Signage and other exterior improvements were requested by Novograder/Youngstown LLC, which is transforming a former Rite Aid store building at 2800 Mahoning Ave. into a plasma donation and collection center. Scott King, who represented Kedplasma at the meeting, said existing vinyl canopies that are currently on the building will be removed and signage erected in its place. Interior renovations will begin in April, with the business opening later in 2025 or 2026. Kedplasma USA has about 40 donation centers, including one on Martin Luther King Boulevard.

• The Diocese of Youngstown requested permission to raze a former rectory building and a garage at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church, 252 E. Wood St., downtown, and construct a two-story, climate-controlled archive storage building with office space. Architect Paul Hagman, who represented the diocese, said the building will architecturally mirror the red brick church building, which will not be affected. It will house the diocese’s vast repository of documents. The Diocese of Youngstown includes all Catholic churches in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Ashtabula and Stark counties.

Pictured at top: The Varsity Club will open in the Gallagher Building.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.