Published: Thursday, August 2, 2007
Architects offer to pitch in to keep JFS in heart of village
The move would help preserve the village's structures and increase business.
LISBON — Two architects are offering their help to keep the Columbiana County Department of Job & Family Services in the heart of the village.
The proposal, made Wednesday, is part of a national trend that is drawing people back into cities, according to Robert A. Mastriana.
Or, in Lisbon's case, a village.
The county commissioners last week voted to advertise for land for a new building to house the county's JFS. The commissioners want 3.7 acres to five acres within 11/2 miles of downtown and room for more than 200 parking spaces.
Possible sites are both in and outside the village.
Mastriana and Norma J. Stefanik, an urban designer at the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at Youngstown State University, said the village offers that space now.
The commissioners can make space by reconfiguring the office space, or turning other buildings into useable space, the architects said.
The present JFS is a warren of offices in a building once heavily damaged by fire and that has often flooded during rain. Stefanik said the space could be altered.
Staying in the village
Another option would be to buy buildings and renovate them into useable office space. More room could be added at the back of the buildings. Workers could park behind the buildings or nearby, the architects said.
The architects said that would keep county workers in the heart of the village, spending money at businesses and restaurants.
Mastriana explained that the exterior of the buildings would retain their historic look. That would be important since the village has 177 structures on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mastriana's firm, The 4M Company of Boardman, designed the renovations of the courts in the courthouse, as well as new heating and cooling systems. The commissioners during the meeting approved paying for $844,000 in bonds to replace almost every window in the courthouse.
But the Poland resident has been active in preservation efforts there along with community activities, such as showing movies on the side of a bridge on U.S. Route 224.
Poland has a clock tower as a focal point, Mastriana noted, but Lisbon has a traditional village square.
Project costs
The commissioners have said the JFS project will cost about $8 million, and that the county needs another $2 million to $3 million to fund it.
Stefanik said she could help up to a point, after which she would expect to be paid.
The architects were brought in by Stevie Halverstadt of Lisbon. She and her sister, Renee Lewis of New York City, have been restoring the Jacob Picking building just west of the courthouse.
The red brick building dates to 1803. Heritage Ohio, which works with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has designated it as the oldest brick structure in Ohio.
"We are interested in retaining our old structures," she said.
The Lisbon Landmark Foundation, an arm of the Lisbon chamber, recently had tours of the old buildings and homes. Because of the large response, the foundation will offer them again.
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