Work on Stambaugh should be on fast track

Given the sad appearance of the historic Stam-baugh Building in downtown Youngstown, even a day’s delay in starting the reinstallation of 370 windows is cause for concern. That’s because the gaping holes on the upper 12 floors of the 13-story building are exposing the interior to rain and wind damage.

The longer the building is left bare, the greater the chances of serious deterioration. Stambaugh’s co-owner, Lou Frangos, has denied suggestions from community activists interested in the revival of the central business district that his intention in buying the structure was to tear it down and use the land for a public parking facility.

Frangos has said that he and his partner, Platia Square LLC of New York City, did not pay $1.15 million for the 11,250-square-foot high rise just to demolish it. It has always been their intention to upgrade Stambaugh, he said, but the downtown economy has caused a delay.

Surprising development

On June 20, Frangos and top officials from his company, USA Parking Systems of Cleveland, met with Mayor Jay Williams and other city officials to discuss his timetable for reinstalling windows that had been removed before the developer had a city work permit or approval from the Design Review Committee. City Hall realized that windows were being removed when one crashed onto East Federal Street. By the time the administration ordered Frangos to stop the work, 370 windows had been taken out.

Following the closed-door meeting of June 20, Frangos said reinstallation work would proceed on Wednesday or Thursday. It began Friday.

As we noted in a recent editorial, Frangos has a special obligation to the city of Youngstown, in particular, and the Valley, in general, because he not only owns a building that is on the National Register of Historic places, but he is the largest property owner in the downtown area.

In addition, he has received millions of dollars in federal and state grants to make his downtown development plans a reality.

The restoration of the Stambaugh Building will be viewed as his signature project.

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Community uproar

In addition, the danger posed by the removal of the windows, as evidenced by one of them crashing to the ground, caused an uproar in the downtown community.

To his credit, Frangos publicly apologized for proceeding without going through the proper channels, saying that the deteriorating condition of the windows and sashes prompted him to order their removal. He pledged to correct the situation.