As those of you who were in town over the weekend know, the Youngstown area experienced a pretty severe storm on Friday evening. The storm knocked down trees and power lines all over the area and damaged a number of homes, cars, and other property.
We were getting prepared to leave from Cleveland to go down to Youngstown about 4 o'clock on Friday when I first heard about the storm. There was severe weather all over Northeast Ohio, so the local Cleveland news, including WKYC, broke into their normal programming to track the storms around Akron, Canton, and Youngstown. The weather around Austintown and Youngstown's North Side was by far the most severe and was the focus of the broadcast. Things were so bad, apparently, that the weatherperson actually encouraged viewers to call their friends and family in the Youngstown area and tell them to get inside and into their basements. I called my own parents, who live on the North Side, and they were already downstairs. It was actually sort of entertaining to hear the forecaster refer to some specific and uniquely Youngstown places that were popping up on the computer system- she'd obviously never heard of Brier Hill, McGuffey Center- and I doubt most of the viewers had, either.
The storm moved quickly enough that we were able to leave Cleveland before 5 and take the turnpike to Youngstown. Part of Route 11 was blocked off because of a downed tree, so we got off at 46 and went through Austintown. This gave us a chance to check out some of the damage, since by then, the storm had already passed. Austintown was pretty bad, with a ton of debris in the roads and obvious damage to yards, trees, and property. Going through the West Side near Mill Creek Park, things were even worse, with trees uprooted in almost every yard and large amounts of debris in the streets. The North Side was slightly better, but going up Fifth Avenue past Wick Park, there were a number of large, obviously old trees ripped right out of the ground. Although it may sound a little silly, it always bums me out when old trees are lost to storms, especially on the North Side. Those trees are some of the last remaining symbols of the "majesty" of the old North Side.
The fallout from the storm lasted all weekend, with trees being chopped up and removed, power being restored, and other projects being done to clean up the mess. Unfortunately, the power was out at Mill Creek Park for the entire weekend, which led to a number of graduation parties and other events that were supposed to be held at the Rose Garden complex and other spots being canceled or moved elsewhere.
I attended one such graduation party on Sunday, which was moved from the park to Overture- the new restaurant attached to the DeYor Center. Although I had been to Powers since the restaurant went up, it was the first time I'd been inside. It's a nice venue. I was particularly impressed with the outdoor section, which faces the Home Savings building. The weather on Sunday was great, and it gave people the opportunity to hang around outside and even walk around downtown.
I've heard a lot of stories from friends and family about how downtown Youngstown used to be something really special. Being down there on Sunday afternoon, I had a chance to sort of imagine what that might have been like. It's been a while since I was able to walk around downtown in broad daylight, too. The daylight, of course, is particularly harsh on Youngstown, since you can see every crack in the sidewalk, every broken window, and every abandoned building. However, it was the first time in as long as I can remember that I felt really optimistic as I walked around there- I could point to a lot of the buildings- the State Theatre, the Paramount, the Realty Building- and know there was a legitimate plan in store for restoration or improvement. Plus, those buildings that are new- the courthouses, the Voinovich building- look great. Granted, I'm much more "Pro-Yo" than most, but I couldn't help but feel really good about downtown in the daytime (which is admittedly very different from downtown at night, which has already made some great strides.) If you don't share my optimism, I can understand- we've certainly been let down in the past- but honestly, things are really looking good down there.
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