Youngstown Mayor Jamael Tito Brown speaks during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Mayor Jamael Tito Brown told reporters today he is not willing to entertain “what ifs” regarding whether the Realty Tower can be saved from demolition. Therefore, he wants the owners of the building to take steps forward by July 5 or the city will take legal action.

He said the reason is that YO Properties 47, and its insurance company, Cincinnati Insurance, are “are bickering about a bottom line, a cost,” and not taking any of the steps they should be taking.

He said all of the engineering studies done on the building indicate that the building can be saved, but that is where the “what ifs” come in, he said.

Those officials “say sure you can stay in the building, but the reality is that’s too long term. That’s too far down the road and too costly. Nobody can give you the cost.”

He added, “If we had an opportunity where this building didn’t affect the economy, didn’t affect 173 residents, did not affect anyone else? If it stood alone away from what’s happening, you could have that structural engineer, you can have the architect conversation. But right now the reality we have is to get our downtown and our residents back downtown. At this point demolition seems like the only clear, precise way to do that.”

Read the full story in Wednesday’s edition of The Vindicator.