David Birskovich has been drawing and painting since junior high school. He frequents his favorite place, Scenna’s Restaurant, at the corner of Tibbetts Wick Road and U.S. Route 422 in McKinley Heights, where his art is on display. Staff photo / Liz Anastasiadis

McKINLEY HEIGHTS — Places lost to history have been revived on the canvas by local artist David Birskovich.

Born and raised in McKinley Heights, Birskovich, 75, has been drawing and painting since junior high school. He started by just painting what was interesting to him, which includes local history.

His art consists of watercolors and colored pencil sketchings.

The Niles Historical Society’s newsletter, The Niles Register, recently did a feature of his drawings, which included the City National Bank Building (1893), drawings of North Main Street (1900s) and The Swaney Building (1904).

He shared his personal favorite with the newspaper — a drawing of an early view of the Pennsylvania Railroad passenger station (1872) that was located on South Main Street near the Mahoning River. Some of his drawings can be found on the Girard Grit Facebook page and the Black Horse Saloon on Liberty Street in Girard.

Birskovich also drew Warren’s Courthouse Square as it looked in about 1990, which can be viewed on the Trumbull County Memory Project’s website.

When Elizabeth Glasgow from the Trumbull County Memory Project was asked about Birskovich’s work, she said he is a “very talented guy with an amazing attention to detail.”

He doesn’t like to sell his art, and actually, despises the concept. He just wants to share his work and the legacy of the local community. His main reason to give things away for free? He wanted to re-create the history of the buildings that no longer exists.

“I saw things disappearing around me,” said Birskovich. “I wanted to bring them back.”

Nowadays he frequents his favorite place, Scenna’s Restaurant at the corner of Tibbetts Wick Road and U.S. Route 422 in McKinley Heights. His art is on display throughout the small building, which has green retro leather chairs lined at the bar.

Each afternoon, he goes there and reads a copy of the newspaper at the bar, orders a BLT or club sandwich and a coffee. He’s there twice a day and has been coming to this location even when it used to be Rudy’s Snack Shack. To him, it feels like an extension of home.

Birskovich went to Niles McKinley High School and graduated in 1964. Then, he moved on to study architecture at Kent State University, graduating in 1969. After getting his degree, he lived in the Silicon Valley for 23 years, working in electronics for research and development and ending his career at Berg and Berg developers.

Upon retiring in 1995, Birskovich returned to his family home because he missed it. His family has lived in McKinley Heights for 100 years, and Birskovich takes care of chickens and small animals at the house.

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lanastasiadis@tribtoday.com