University opens doors for Wick Pollock Inn preview
Leonard Crist
Issue date: 10/19/04 Section: pageone
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The original mansion, however, appears to be the part of the facility most in need of repairs.
In two of the guest rooms, the ceiling is falling apart, leaving debris on the floors below. In the Crystal Room, wallpaper is peeling off the walls. In the kitchen, tiles are uprooted from the ground.
In the addition, however, the rooms appear in very good shape.
"A couple of the rooms look like you could stay in them tonight," University Spokesman Ron Cole said.
YSU is in the process of putting out a formal request for a developer to come in and renovate the building, Sweet said. The request should be out by the end of autumn and discussions with a developer should begin by early 2005.
The entire building evokes a certain surreal quality - a mix of late 19th century architectural design, 1980s decorating and the frozen-in-1998 set tables, made beds, and un-emptied ashtrays.
Outside of the banquet hall, an out-of-tune piano sits. Down the hall is a television graveyard. Rows and rows of old TVs - at least 20 of them - fill an entire room.
"You remember the lyrics to 'Hotel California?'" University Spokesman Walt Ulbricht asked, referencing The Eagles' song. "'You can check out, but you can never leave.'"
The gardens, to the north of the inn, are similarly stuck in time, overgrown with brush and weeds.
Sweet said it has not been determined yet how the inn will be operated once renovations are complete.
Hiring an outside firm has been discussed. That was the method YSU employed in the 1980s when the Pollock House first became the Wick Pollock Inn.
Another option is allowing the Hospitality Management program to operate the inn.
Sweet said he was interested in the idea of hiring a general manager with the credentials to both run the inn and teach in the Hospitality Management program, which could open up opportunities for student internships.
Robert J. O'Malley, a former partner in the Pollock Inn Restoration Association, the group that ran the inn from 1986 to 1998, said he feels that a reopened Wick Pollock Inn can be a viable project, but only if the university supports it.
Giving the inn to another company would only put the university in the same situation that they were in when the inn closed in 1998, O'Malley said.
"You don't need a major firm to come in and run it," O'Malley said. "You need to run it yourselves."
Youngstown City Councilman Artis Gillam (D-1), whose ward includes the Wick Pollock Inn, said he thinks it is good timing to reopen the facility.
"Youngstown has started to rebound," Gillam said.
Sweet noted that there is no hotel or motel in the city of Youngstown.
"We think that this would be right in the heart of what will be and what is currently the art and entertainment district in the Mahoning Valley," Sweet said. "So we see a great future for the inn."
In two of the guest rooms, the ceiling is falling apart, leaving debris on the floors below. In the Crystal Room, wallpaper is peeling off the walls. In the kitchen, tiles are uprooted from the ground.
In the addition, however, the rooms appear in very good shape.
"A couple of the rooms look like you could stay in them tonight," University Spokesman Ron Cole said.
YSU is in the process of putting out a formal request for a developer to come in and renovate the building, Sweet said. The request should be out by the end of autumn and discussions with a developer should begin by early 2005.
The entire building evokes a certain surreal quality - a mix of late 19th century architectural design, 1980s decorating and the frozen-in-1998 set tables, made beds, and un-emptied ashtrays.
Outside of the banquet hall, an out-of-tune piano sits. Down the hall is a television graveyard. Rows and rows of old TVs - at least 20 of them - fill an entire room.
"You remember the lyrics to 'Hotel California?'" University Spokesman Walt Ulbricht asked, referencing The Eagles' song. "'You can check out, but you can never leave.'"
The gardens, to the north of the inn, are similarly stuck in time, overgrown with brush and weeds.
Sweet said it has not been determined yet how the inn will be operated once renovations are complete.
Hiring an outside firm has been discussed. That was the method YSU employed in the 1980s when the Pollock House first became the Wick Pollock Inn.
Another option is allowing the Hospitality Management program to operate the inn.
Sweet said he was interested in the idea of hiring a general manager with the credentials to both run the inn and teach in the Hospitality Management program, which could open up opportunities for student internships.
Robert J. O'Malley, a former partner in the Pollock Inn Restoration Association, the group that ran the inn from 1986 to 1998, said he feels that a reopened Wick Pollock Inn can be a viable project, but only if the university supports it.
Giving the inn to another company would only put the university in the same situation that they were in when the inn closed in 1998, O'Malley said.
"You don't need a major firm to come in and run it," O'Malley said. "You need to run it yourselves."
Youngstown City Councilman Artis Gillam (D-1), whose ward includes the Wick Pollock Inn, said he thinks it is good timing to reopen the facility.
"Youngstown has started to rebound," Gillam said.
Sweet noted that there is no hotel or motel in the city of Youngstown.
"We think that this would be right in the heart of what will be and what is currently the art and entertainment district in the Mahoning Valley," Sweet said. "So we see a great future for the inn."