Funds Raised to Begin Restoration of Historic Youngstown Monastery - WFMJ


A group that encourages saving Youngstown neighborhoods says enough money has been donated to begin work on renovating a historic building on Youngstown’s South Side.

The Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation reported this week that 175 people have made donations totaling $20,000 to help restore a two-story brick former monastery at 1810 Volney Road.

Exterior clean-up is already underway at the site that will become a neighborhood action center. The YNDC says full renovation of the property will begin in the coming months with plans for completion this fall.

Donated to YNDC in late 2019, Emery McKelvey built the home in 1927. It was later used for decades as a Carmelite monastery and worship center led by Father Richard Madden, an organizer and spiritual leader who fought to keep the monastery open for the people of Youngstown following the collapse of the local steel industry.

YNDC plans to improve parking and outdoor meeting space, upgrade mechanical systems, and restore the first floor of the property for use as a Neighborhood Action Center to conduct public and group meetings to organize residents to address systemic neighborhood problems and improve neighborhoods.

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