SALEM, Ohio – Several of the city’s historic storefronts have undergone major renovations over the past several months, thanks in part to a local construction firm that’s been in business for nearly six decades.
On a Tuesday afternoon in late August, tradesmen from Stitle Construction Co. are busy re-siding Heggy’s Confectionary along East State Street. Simultaneously, another crew from Stitle is placing a new roof on a vacant structure on South Broadway Avenue across the street that will soon re-open as a renovated café.
And, a recently opened establishment just south along Broadway is the Rumpled Queen, the former DiRenzo’s restaurant. Last year, Stitle began a renovation project that has transformed the site into a gourmet destination spot that today draws patrons from the entire region.
Indeed, most of the storefronts today downtown are renovated and filled, said Jerry Stitle, vice president of Stitle Construction. “There are just a few that are closed up.”
The company was established by Stitle’s father and uncle in 1966, and has renovated buildings in Salem’s downtown, completed projects in the city’s industrial parks, worked on upgrades at Salem Regional Hospital, and contributed to other projects all across eastern Ohio. The business started as a residential remodeler and then moved into the construction market in 1986. Ultimately, the company expanded into light commercial and then full commercial construction services.
“We just grew from there to where we are now,” Stitle said.
Downtown Salem is especially active for the company at the moment, Stitle said.
Along South Broadway Avenue, the company is busy refurbishing a vacant building more than a century old to prepare for a new business, noted Eric Stitle, project manager.
“This is going to be called Delight on Broadway, a new café and bagel shop,” Eric Stitle said. “It’s getting a renovation – the existing roof is coming off and a new roof is being put on. We’re currently updating the outside, renovating the inside,” he said.
The company’s work should be finished in approximately eight weeks, Jerry Stitle said.
LIGHTS ARE BRIGHT ON BROADWAY
Delight on Broadway is the latest addition to fill vacant storefronts along this downtown corridor. In spring 2024, a new restaurant and bar, The OG, opened at the former Schwartz Department store at 146 S. Broadway.
And last April, restaurateur and chef Annie Gano opened the Rumpled Queen, an upscale bar and restaurant at 387 S. Broadway.
“It’s named after my dog,” Gano laughs, a German shepherd named Queen. “I wanted to use her name in some capacity.”
The site was once the location of DiRenzo’s, an Italian restaurant that was a staple in the Salem community for 91 years. It closed after its owners retired.
However, the space needed major updates, and Gano envisioned a restaurant with an entirely new look. This included a new bar area, additional windows along the front and side, an updated indoor dining area that has accents of an English pub, an outdoor space that features an elaborate stone patio, a fireplace, a rock garden with a small waterfall, and a sturdy wooden pergola.
“I’m born and raised in Salem,” Gano says. After attending school in New York, Gano worked for a group in Chicago for eight years, opening restaurants all over the world. “My final year, I opened restaurants in New York, Paris, and Chicago.”
Gano said she became inspired by many different varieties of restaurants over the years and wanted to pursue a venture of her own. Plus, she began to wear out from the constant travel and pace of work.
“I moved back home, started working in Pittsburgh, and then decided to do something in my hometown,” she said. “Why not bring something back here?”
Gano describes the Rumpled Queen as a “gastro pub,” a restaurant that has a heavy emphasis on food and cuisine. “Everything is made from scratch,” she said. “We’re more elevated than pub food. You can come in and get a burger and a beer, or we have a steak frite or iberico pork on the menu.”
The idea was to create a place with a cozy atmosphere that didn’t evoke an ultra-modern look, but nevertheless have updated amenities, Gano said.
To pull it off, Stitle Construction was hired to renovate the interior of the old building, Eric Stitle said. The original paneling was still intact, and presented a darker atmosphere with very little natural light.
Large windows fronting South Broadway were installed, as were new windows with views of the patio.
“We took a space that was showing its age and went from that to a great place to come from all over,” he said. “For us, it was a fun job to do. It’s a good thing for the town and it brings people here to see something that they haven’t seen in a long time.”
Gano said business has been great, and patrons from all over. “We’re getting people from Canfield, Columbiana, East Palestine, East Liverpool,” she said. “I had a group here from Toledo.”
Jerry Stitle said that it’s gratifying for his company to have a hand in what he observes is a renaissance – and preservation — of Salem’s central business district. .
“One thing that is kind of nice about the projects we’re involved in is that they’re all Salem families who have either relocated here or continuing what their families have done here it town,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in Salem.”
Pictured at top: From left, Annie Gano, owner of the Rumpled Queen; Jerry Stitle, v.p. of Stitle Construction; Eric Stitle, project manager at Stitle.