YSU considers buying church near campus

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Pilgrim Collegiate is right across the street from YSU's historic Jones Hall.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — A church at Wick and Lincoln avenues may become a part of Youngstown State University.

Pilgrim Collegiate Church is at a strategic location for YSU, right at the southeast corner of campus, said John Hyden, YSU executive director of facilities.

It's directly across Lincoln from Jones Hall, noted Hunter Morrison, director of YSU's Center for Urban and Regional Studies. Jones Hall, named for the university's first president, Howard Jones, was built in 1931 and was the first building erected for the university.

The church is at the corner of campus seen coming up Wick Avenue from downtown, Morrison said.

"We are interested in selling," said Jack Barton, president of Pilgrim Collegiate and its successor, Faith Community Church.

Pilgrim Collegiate vacated the church at Wick and Lincoln in 2000 when it merged with Bethlehem United Church of Christ to form Faith Community. Church activities have since been centered at 1919 E. Midlothian Blvd.

New Beginnings Outreach Ministries leases the Wick/Lincoln facilities and subleases some space to The Greater Youngstown Point, an agency providing services to the homeless and other programs.

Possible plans

The university is looking at some of the facilities for offices for various support services, perhaps parking and janitorial, Hyden recently told the YSU Board of Trustees. There are also 30 critical parking spaces that go with the building, he said.

New Beginnings would likely remain as a tenant, continuing to use the sanctuary for its regular worship services, but that's only about 20 percent of the building, Hyden said. The rest could be closed off from the sanctuary to serve as office space. There would be no plans for classes to be held there, he said.

Michael James, executive director of The Greater Youngstown Point, said his agency hasn't been given anything definitive about its future at that location.

YSU has a purchase option on the property that will expire Oct. 31. The price is $375,000, but converting part of the building to university use could cost some $500,000 more, Hyden said.

Only the sanctuary is air conditioned. The cost to air condition the rest of the facilities would be about $200,000, he said.

There are about $75,000 worth of needed structural repairs, and reconfiguring space would raise the tab an additional $200,000 to $300,000, he said.

The university trustees made no immediate commitment to buy the property, opting to await a recommendation from the administration.

Pilgrim Collegiate had as many as 750 members in 1968, according to Vindicator files.

"Things were going great. We had a lot of people then," Barton said, pointing out that the church added an education wing in 1970.

The church, however, suffered the same drastic loss of population as many downtown churches when the steel mills began closing in the late 1970s, Barton said.

A Vindicator story said the church had as few as 50 people attending services when it voted to merge with Bethlehem United Church of Christ.

The sanctuary has impressive stained glass windows. Barton said the church would like the terms of any sales agreement to specify that, should the building ever be torn down, those windows would go back to the church.

Buying the property would give the university ownership of nearly that entire block, Morrison said, suggesting it would be a good move by YSU to control the site.

The Campus Book and Supply store at 23 Lincoln Ave. would be the only remaining privately owned property on the block, he said.

gwin@vindy.com

Monday, October 1, 2007