YOUNGSTOWN — The Ward Bakery building, which needs costly upgrades to its fire sprinkler system, was sold and the new owners are evicting on June 10 the dozen or so artists who have rented space there.

“We’re scrambling to get our stuff out by June 10 because we were told if we’re not out by then, all that we have here becomes property of the new owner,” said Tony Armeni, a renowned metal sculptor who has rented space at the building since 1996.

Armeni said he found space for his large metal sculptures at a building on Glenwood Avenue, but other Ward Bakery tenants aren’t as fortunate.

“I pleaded with the owners to have the new owner let us stay longer, but I was told June 10 was the best they could do,” Armeni said. “It’s uncalled for.”

Tamara and Jamie Deeley, who own the building through Ward Riverworks LLC, didn’t return messages seeking comment.

In a letter to the tenants, they wrote, “We know how difficult this will be and therefore have made arrangements with the buyer to allow tenants until June 10 to vacate the premises. As of June 10, the building will close and any remaining items will become the property of the new owner.”

They also state in the letter, “When we purchased the building eight years ago the plan was to work hard to maintain and improve this facility. Unfortunately, due to the events of the last year and the upgrades required, the continued maintenance has become more than we can manage.”

Ward Riverworks purchased the property at 1024 Mahoning Ave. for $220,000 on July 14, 2016.

There is nothing listed on the Mahoning County Auditor’s Office’s website about the sale.

In the letter, the Deeleys wrote, “We are sincerely disappointed that we were not able to reach the vision that we had for the Ward Bakery building.”

Tamara Deeley told The Vindicator in July she and her husband bought the building “as is.”

She said at the time, “Shame on us for not doing more due diligence. But you don’t know what you don’t know. My husband had been a tenant in that building for 33 years at that point. He knew the previous owner. When the previous owner told him, ‘Everything’s good. Here’s the tags because I had it inspected.’ We thought it was good.”

A city fire department inspection May 26 turned up 29 violations.

Those issues included the need to replace sprinklers, electrical wiring violations, exposed wiring and other “hazardous electrical conditions,” improper installation of fire extinguishers, obstructed exits, lack of a certificate of occupancy, lack of signs for exits and other “unsafe conditions.”

The most expensive repair at the time was the sprinkler system, which includes switching every pipe in the building from three-fourths of an inch to 1 inch. That alone was going to cost about $212,000, Tamara Deeley said in July.

The 101-year-old building was originally the Ward Bakery that closed in the 1960s. For about the past 50 years, it has been used as rental space for various artists and opened up a few times a year to the public for artists to sell their wares though it hasn’t had an open house since 2022.

There is talk that the building will be converted into storage space.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.