Published: Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Highlighting downtown history
To read Faniro's essay, click here.
A local architect brings attention to city's
ice cream roots.
By ANDREW GAUG
YOUNGSTOWN — A lot of stress, some free time and an idea were what it took to get Youngstown some national recognition.
When architect Ron Faniro sat down to write an essay for Parade magazine on why a downtown building was important to America's culture and history, he wasn't sure what to expect.
"It was an unusually stressful day," he said, "I learned about the essay contest and I thought, 'Well, let me just give it a shot.'"
His subject: the former building of Burt's Ice Cream, 325 W. Federal St., where owner Harry Burt invented the Good Humor Bar.
After submitting his essay, a panel including actor Morgan Freeman read through more than 2,800 submissions. Faniro's was chosen as one of 11 to make the cut.
A plaque commemorating the building's historical significance will be presented to the building's owners, Jeff and Danielle Clark, at 10 a.m. today.
Discovering Good Humor
A New Jersey native, Faniro moved to the Youngstown area in 1975 and has been running his own architecture business for 20 years.
He's always been fascinated by the buildings in Youngstown. But, "I had no idea the Good Humor Bar was invented in Youngstown until I read the book 'Mahoning Memories,'" he said; the history of Youngstown and Mahoning County is by Frederick J. Blue.
The historical and architectural significance of the building were two things he hoped to get across to the panel.
"It's one of the few buildings that is left from Youngstown's boom era," he said.
"It's also one of the few left that has an architectural terra cotta facade." The terra cotta facade is something Faniro said is very rare to find as it only was used for around 40 years before architects changed to a more modern style.
Faniro said one of the building's strongest points is how well it has been maintained and kept to its original design and features. He said, "95 percent of its historical fabric is still there."
He said the building still has its original stained glass windows, user-operated freight elevator and dimmer switches for its second story ballroom, among other things.
Nostalgia
The essay allowed Faniro to have a moment of nostalgia while also highlighting a historic moment in Youngstown's history.
He mentions the feeling he would get when a Good Humor man would come through his neighborhood in a pressed white shirt.
"I remember him opening up that door and selling me a confection," he said. "It was a great midafternoon summer snack."
The invention of the Good Humor Bar in Youngstown is something, Faniro said, many locals probably don't know about.
He hopes the recognition of his essay helps educate people about its significance.
"I liken it to the arrival of the hot dog or Cracker Jacks," he said.
The Good Humor Bar's invention came as a fluke.
Harry Burt, owner of Burt's Ice Cream, created a chocolate coating that would solidify itself onto ice cream.
Burt found the chocolate too messy to eat on top of ice cream, until his son suggested he put a wooden stick in it. As Faniro said in his essay, "the rest is history."
Faniro hopes the recognition given to the building will renew a sense of accomplishment in Youngstown that he felt when he lived in New Jersey. "I grew up in an environment where people paid attention to their historic surroundings," he said. "There's a lot of richness in this town that goes unnoticed."
Preserving history
Many buildings in the area that were built during Youngstown's boom were designed by world-renowned architects, Faniro said. "Those were the cream of the architectural crop," he said.
Faniro said due to lack of knowledge about many buildings in the area, he's watched some good ones go to waste.
Even the former Burt's Ice Cream building, which has been home to Ross Radio, an electronic component wholesale and mail order company, for the past 50 years may be in danger in the event that business leaves.
"I didn't ask for [the Clarks'] permission when I wrote the essay," Faniro said, "It turns out he and his wife shared the same concern as me with the fate of the building."
Faniro hopes the plaque will keep the building from being torn down in the future.
"City officials are now committed to preserving what's left of the city's history," he said. "Ten years ago, they weren't."
History is something, Faniro said, that the building is full of. "It's a pretty good example of the wealth and change going on in the boom era," he said, "It's a good commentary of what went on back then and, frankly, what this town could be in the future."
agaug@vindy.com
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