Stambaugh Auditorium Awarded $100K for Renovations

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Stambaugh Auditorium has been awarded $100,000 from the Youngstown Foundation to support the design and engineering phase for the restoration of the building’s Fifth Avenue entrance.

Planned work, said auditorium director of development Michael McGiffin, includes replacing all retaining walls, lights, cleaning the façade and rebuilding the staircase along Fifth Avenue and the garden along Park Avenue.

The grant award is part of a larger fundraising effort, he said.

“This is a multimillion-dollar project,” he said. “We’re hopeful for 2019 but it’s also possible this will start in 2020.”

Work won’t begin until all financing is secured and the auditorium’s event schedule is ironed out so construction doesn’t interfere.

“Obviously this would need to occur in warmer months,” he said. “We think it’ll take seven to eight months from the time we start work on the staircase to the time we cut the ribbon.”

All materials used, Stambaugh Auditorium noted release, will “be historically guided to preserve the original aesthetic and integrity of the structure.”

While the project “isn’t growth or creation,” McGiffin said, the donation from the Youngstown Foundation is nonetheless crucial to the city’s revitalization.

“It reaffirms that preservation is worth the investment,” he said in a release. “Stambaugh Auditorium was built to be a gift to this community and we intend for it to remain a cherished asset for many years to come.”

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.