Staff photos /Dan Pompili Eric Rauschenbach, right, shows where the deteriorated facade of 8 State St. has been improved by adding temporary construction doors, while his uncle Kevin Walsh discusses the damage the men found after they purchased the buildings.

STRUTHERS — The face of downtown is changing, sooner than later if two city natives have anything to say about it.

And they do.

Kevin Walsh and Eric Rauschenbach — an uncle and nephew team with strong Struthers roots — bought several historic buildings along State Street and Bridge Street late last year and are on course to have the first of them renovated and rented as early as October.

Including a $200,000 contribution by the Mahoning County commissioners from the county’s share of American Rescue Plan funds, the two will invest nearly $2 million in downtown renovation — most of it out of their own pockets.

“We don’t have the backing of some major investment group or construction firm,” Walsh said. “We’re just Kevin and Eric, two Struthers guys trying to make a difference.”

They call the buildings on State Street “The Shoppes on State.” The one on the corner, which represents four units, two of which have a Bridge Street address, is being called the Corner Market.

The two have spent the past several months clearing out debris, moving tons of dirt from behind them, demolishing one small building and exploring what is underneath the facades. They said they’ve gone through more than 100 dumpsters and filled three by just clearing out moldy furniture from the basement of 6 State St.

“The last seven to eight months have been really challenging,” Walsh said. “There’s been a lot of focus on design, because we’re trying to do our best to keep them looking like they did.”

BORN FROM MEMORIES

The two remember how those buildings looked in their youth. After all, their family-owned stores were in the buildings at one time.

Walsh graduated from Struthers High School in 1992 and Rauschenbach in 2009. Walsh’s sister Melanie is Rauschenbach’s mom. Melanie and her mom owned Antiques and More, which opened in the late 1980s. Then Melanie opened up Kid’s Stuff in Units 6-10.

Rauschenbach remembers coming to the store after school and in the summer, running along the block, buying candy at the nearby newsstand. Walsh remembers buying sports cards at the store that once operated at 10 State St. They both remember lunch at Fat E’s Restaurant, which was on the top floor of South Bridge Billiards that also housed The Cellar concert venue nearby.

“I grew up in downtown Struthers,” Rauschenbach said, “and I used to know all the other business owners around here.”

So, it made sense that Rauschenbach’s brother, local artist Daniel Rauschenbach, looked for a space downtown last year when his lease at the Soap Gallery in downtown Youngstown was coming to an end.

He and his mother, Melanie, bought the building at 118 Bridge St., which used to be Eagle Antiques. But it turned out to be more trouble than they expected. Much like the buildings along State Street, it was full of old junk and debris.

So Eric called Walsh to ask his input on how to handle the project. Walsh, whose primary profession is property insurance in Florida, is familiar with projects like the one Daniel was taking on. In the end, he bought the building from his sister and Daniel, and both Eric and Walsh saw the potential to make downtown Struthers look a little nicer.

“But we knew that to really make something happen, it couldn’t be just that building,” Walsh said.

In November, they bought a bulk of the Corner Market, where Struthers Nutrition used to be, and the Shoppes on State. In December, they bought the rest of the Shoppes.

At the time, 6 State St. was condemned.

“My first duty as a property owner was to go to city hall and sign a document acknowledging that I had taken responsibility for a condemned building,” Walsh said.

HISTORIC TROUBLES

“One of the challenges Struthers has had, since 1977 when the mills closed, these buildings down here have been neglected for many, many years,” Walsh said.

The buildings along State were constructed no later than 1920, and the Corner Market is the oldest standing building in Struthers, built in 1850, Rauschenbach said.

They were between 50 and 100 years old when the boys were romping around downtown at their family’s shops. The story goes that when the post office and its parking lot were built in the 1930s, all the dirt was pushed down the hill against the buildings.

When the men bought it all, a back door on 14 State St. opened right out onto dirt, and one could walk right to the post office parking lot.

Rudzik Excavating cleared out more than 1,000 cubic yards of soil, and now there is about a 20-foot drop from that door, and the back of the building is cleared for parking spaces. The men said they’ll be adding about 25 new parking spaces downtown, behind the buildings, with a one-way alley that runs to Bridge Street.

An old building between 4 and 6 State St. was defunct and the space behind it overrun with weeds and vines. Some vines on 10 State St. had started to strip away the bricks. That will be open patio space, with umbrellas for the summer and heaters for colder seasons.

“If anyone wanted to open up a soda fountain and ice cream parlor here (in unit 4, next to the patio area), we would absolutely love that,” Walsh said.

The building on the other side will be gallery space, owned by Walsh and Daniel.

They found 200-year-old wood siding underneath the facade on 2 State St., where Daniel’s art studio resides. They said that wood can all be restored to its former glory.

They noticed how old glass transoms above the front doors had been covered with vinyl siding instead of being replaced.

“It’s just been decades of Band-aids, and we decided it was time to just strip it all down to its core,” Rasuchenbach said. “The step was never taken to bring it up to code to draw and keep quality tenants here long-term.”

They plan to replace the roofs — that contract has already been awarded to Columbus-based JP Construction through a public bidding process by the commissioners. AO Construction and Restoration of Youngstown is repairing the masonry.

Walsh and Rauschenbach planted clover to stabilize the hill behind the building and they think some wildflowers will be next. The facades of the buildings will be restored in period-specific paint colors and design. Walsh said he welcomes anyone with pictures showing the buildings’ original appearances to contact him or Rauschenbach.

CITY SUPPORT

Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller said the city is extremely excited about the project. The $200,000, which is paying for the roof and mortar work, came out of more than $750,000 the city received from the commissioners.

“This is the main strip of downtown, so we want to make sure everything looks good and everything is up to code and brought back to life,” she said. “It’s definitely a puzzle and every piece plays a special and unique part in our downtown, but this is just a huge chunk of that.”

Cercone Miller, like the project managers, laments that the buildings have not been able to sustain any local businesses. The last, Struthers Nutrition, closed just a few weeks ago.

“It’s been stagnant for so long and nothing has been in those buildings,” she said. “We want to see more people walking around downtown. We already have Selah and Donavito’s, so we want to see something that’s going to attract more people and play off those cornerstones we have there.”

Cercone Miller said the city has allocated more than $1 million for an Ohio Department of Transportation safety study in downtown, though it will not be completed until the end of 2026.

In the meantime, she said, she welcomes conversations about the State Street project and everything going on downtown.

“All of the local business owners will be informed and at least have a voice,” she said.

“I know not everyone will be completely happy, but we want them informed.”

Walsh and Rauschenbach said they plan to proceed incrementally, but should have spaces ready for occupancy by October. They already have five of the six units rented, including a breakfast and coffee establishment.

Like Cercone Miller, they want their properties to be a boon for Selah and Donavito’s, and they expect that those cornerstones will only help the State Street building in kind.

“We want to keep this area up for people to build businesses. And it’s great that we have this kind of foundation for our downtown area so they can thrive,” Rauschenbach said. “These buildings were here long before us, and hopefully they will be here long after us. We’re just the current caretakers.”

While they work on State Street, the building that started it all, at 118 Bridge St., remains empty and open — with just a couple pieces of plywood separating the interior of the building from the sidewalk.

But they have not forgotten about it.

Built in 1900, and once serving as a department store, Walsh said, the building’s terra cotta exterior harkens back to that era, and he said it will be part of what makes the building special when, one day, it is completed.

“Someday, people are going to drive here from different cities just to see it,” he said. “It’s going to be a landmark.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Dan Pompili by email at dpompili@vindy.com. Follow us on X, formerly Twitter, @TribToday.