Correspondent photo / Brandon Cantwell Robert Mastriana sits in front of decades of memories of past works. He is one of the founding partners of architectural firm 4M Company LLC.

POLAND — Robert Mastriana always knew from a very young age he wanted to pursue architecture.

“I feel most architects are born with this passion and this gift, and if you’re a design architect, which is what I am and most architects are or strive to be, it’s just natural,” Mastriana said. “I started drawing homes, I think, in third grade, and it just starts that way. There was no question that I was going to be an architect. I wanted to be an architect from day one.”

Mastriana is one of the founding partners of 4M Company LLC, along with his brothers, Paul and Richard, and father, Fred.

Mastriana said his parents supported their children’s passions, explaining that his younger brother, Richard, pursued law for a title company. Paul, who still works alongside him as chief operating officer, pursued accounting and was instrumental in writing new laws for a Chicago-based accounting firm.

Mastriana graduated with his bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kent State University in 1972. In his final semester, he studied abroad in Florence, Italy, as one of its first international studies program students.

Mastriana said his experience abroad was fulfilling, as he never had the historical architectural class he intended to take during the university’s brief closing and explained that his time there served as the inspiration for the Poland Library’s dome.

“We got to spend a lot of time touring things. Out of all the artwork and the things that were the most impressive, my wife and I totally were just so impressed by the statue of David by Michelangelo,” Mastriana said. “The scale of it, the fact that it was carved out of solid marble. The veins. I mean, it was unbelievable and then the buildings and the domes and everything that they have done, we can’t even build buildings like that today. So that was one reason why we put the dome on the Poland Library.”

Mastriana loves traditional and timeless artwork, and it shows in his design of Poland’s Walgreens and library.

As the library’s original architect, Mastriana has been vocal in his frustrations with its recent changes, speaking for 30 minutes about it at a village council meeting in October.

Mastriaina said being unable to save the library’s original design will always be one of his biggest regrets.

“What’s so upsetting is that they wanted to ‘refresh.’ That was their word. They wanted to refresh the look of the (Poland) Library. Timeless architecture is timeless,” Mastriana said. “There is absolutely no reason to refresh it.”

“We had so many artisans working locally – the blacksmiths, local painters and everyone that contributed to this because it was a real community effort. And it’s all for naught and that’s one, regret I’ll always have in my career. That we couldn’t save the Poland Library.”

Serving the community has always been important to Mastriana, dedicating half of his personal and professional life to it as a member of Boardman’s Rotary Club, the Salvation Army and donating his time to designing Stambaugh Auditorium’s Monday Musical office in memory of his mother, Rose.

“God gave us these talents to help the world and other people, and so I just feel this is one way I can contribute. Most people, especially if you’re wealthy, just write checks. And money, of course, can be replaced. But if you give up your time, it’s irreplaceable, and it’s something that can be lasting,” Mastriana said.

“An architect can really contribute to his town more than anyone because he’s the creator. People will follow him, but they need someone that has ideas and things like this, and being really into town planning, that’s where it’s at,” he added.

Outside of architecture, Mastriana stays active, meeting with a personal trainer twice a week and running. He resides in Poland with his wife, Kathy, and has a son and daughter, Byron and Kathryn.