Staff photo / Andy Gray ... Frank Krygowski of Poland checks out the recreation of a steel mill locker room at the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor on Saturday. The museum is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor hosted a block party Saturday as part of its 30th anniversary festivities.

Visitors toured the museum, sampled refreshments and enjoyed activities provided by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, the Melnik Medical Museum and the Youngstown State University Archives.

“The goal was to open up the facility and let people see what a gem we are in the community,” said Marcelle Wilson, site manager of the center. “Sometimes it seems we’re Youngstown’s best kept secret.”

Frank Krygowski of Poland is no stranger to the center. He said when he taught manufacturing technology at Youngstown State University, he regularly assigned his students to visit the museum and quizzed them on what was there.

“I think we really need something like this,” Krygowski said. “The steel industry is responsible for this town existing, and too few people realize it.”

Wilson was leading tours of the building, designed by renowned architect Michael Graves and opened in 1992.

“I’m really thrilled with the turnout,” Wilson said. “I’ve been interacting and talking with a lot of people, learning their connections to the mills. It’s been really fun.”

While the museum’s primary audience comes from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties and Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Wilson said, “We actually do get people from all over the world.”

Saturday’s event drew several out-of-state visitors with local ties.

Michael Deem, a Struthers native who now lives in Texas, took his family to the museum while back home visiting relatives.

“Dad used to work in the steel mills,” he said. “My wife, her dad worked in the mills. I think all the grandpas did. Pretty much everyone did.”

Chris and Celene Jackson of Kalamazoo, Mich., were visiting relatives in Greenville, Pa., and they spent the day at the museum and at the nearby Butler Institute of American Art.

Loron Cox, a Boardman native who now lives in Jacksonville, Fla., said, “This is a super place. I like the history, looking at the Black Monday information.”

The center kicked off its 30th anniversary celebration with a lecture series in April. Three programs remain, and the next one features Tom Leary, retiring director of applied history program at YSU, on the topic of “Saving Steel History: 30 Years of Industrial Heritage Preservation” on June 23.

agray@tribtoday.com