I had to see the twisted chimneys again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I drove through there once... Salem is awesome

Beautiful building stock, some of it fairly intact. This one (fitness club), at the head of a street looks like it might have been something important, like a municipal building. The front needs to be de-crapped, and it would be a handsome structure.

^For the longest time it was the Farmers National Bank building, now there's a fitness club and I believe the offices of the Salem High School alumni association. I could be wrong, but I don't think there's a more ornate facade underneath - that's limestone and I remember it looking that way in the early 70s.

 

Nice photos ink - I've heard of the place ;-)

yeah gotta love the old deco bank building.

 

i noticed some cool old signage too like the flower shop, rocco's tux, the old corner clock and the old moviehouse. i *heart* stuff like that too.

 

typical small town ohio. very good.

Nice!

I could be wrong, but I don't think there's a more ornate facade underneath - that's limestone and I remember it looking that way in the early 70s.

 

I think Rob just means that the windows should be cleaned up and the awning removed/replaced with something more appropriate. Otherwise, the facade is beautiful. I wonder what the inside looks (/looked) like.

The reason I mentioned the facade is that the building *did* have some turquouise vinyl/aluminum paneling on the side street facade. As far as the interior, although it was a bank, it wasn't very remarkable.

I could be wrong, but I don't think there's a more ornate facade underneath - that's limestone and I remember it looking that way in the early 70s.

 

I think Rob just means that the windows should be cleaned up and the awning removed/replaced with something more appropriate. Otherwise, the facade is beautiful. I wonder what the inside looks (/looked) like.

 

Yep!  That's exactly what I meant. It's a balanced, dignified design with some subdued but attractive deco features, and would be a handsome termination to the street that approaches it. The red awning and other signage spoil the facade. I don't know what that gridwork thing is in the center above the awning, but typically there would have been another pair of windows like the ones on either side of it.

I think Salem potentially has the healthiest downtown in the Columbiana/Mahoning Valley region; although Lisbon, Columbiana, and Warren seem to care a lot for their downtowns. Youngstown, Girard, Niles, East Liverpool, Alliance, etc. have a bit more work to do.

Salem benefits from a state route (Route 62/173/14) being the main east-west thoroughfare through its downtown, as well as having a pretty centralized populace (Alliance and East Liverpool are both pretty sprawled considering their population).

 

There aren't many convenient ways to get from the Alliance/Canton area to the southern Youngstown metro but that could change - a limited access bypass has been planned for decades. It would connect the limited-access Route 62 (that ends just north of Alliance) to full-on highway Route 11 (just north of Columbiana). The only component that's complete is a stretch north of Salem (which connects with the Route 45 bypass). With less vehicular traffic bringing in potential customers, downtown Salem could take a hit :-\

 

Wow, gorgeous buildings.  That town seems very healthy and intact.  That house with the twisted chimneys is soo creepy. but so cool.  If only someone would give it some tlc.

The CBD is largely intact, but healthy is a relative term - like most small towns, the industrial base that built them has been mostly eroded. As far as the twisted chimney house, they're restoring it, but it's been sporadic over a period of a few years.

A stately downtown full of (occupied) buildings. I need to visit more towns.

Review of New York gallery exhibit of native Salem, Ohio artist Charles Burchfield:

 

full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/arts/design/03burc.html?ref=design

 

ART REVIEW | 'CHARLES BURCHFIELD 1920'

American Modern: Capturing the Rust Belt in Wintry Bleakness

By KAREN ROSENBERG

Published: April 2, 2009

 

“Regional modernism” sounds suspiciously contradictory; modernism was something American artists picked up in Paris, not at the house next door. Yet it’s the label that best describes a peculiar group of paintings made by Charles Burchfield in his native Ohio around 1920.

 

 

A PIECE OF ART

http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/jul/20/8216a-piece-of-artssrq/

Published: Mon, July 20, 2009 @ 12:00 a.m.

By D.a. Wilkinson

 

Video:

http://www.vindy.com/videos/2009/jul/17/879/

 

SALEM — Chris Clark has put a twist on his old house.

 

The new chimneys put on the house at 207 S. Ellsworth Ave. this week are spiral, not an original box of red bricks.

 

“That was my own twist,” Clark said. “It was a lot of fun to build.”

 

He added that without the twists, “It all looks the same [as before].”

 

Clark learned masonry by working under James F. Mayhew of New Life Masonry in Boardman.

 

Mayhew, who also has been working on the building, said, “This [house] will be a piece of art when it’s done.”

 

More at: http://www.vindy.com/news/2009/jul/20/8216a-piece-of-artssrq/

Apparently three buildings in this block are coming down (the two tallest, and the gray thing on the right):

 

 

http://wkbn.com/2015/04/17/more-downtown-salem-deconstruction-delays/

I knew the Tan-Fastic building and the beige building to the left were coming down but the news about the Butler Museum branch (gray building on the right) is troubling. It was built as an annex to the adjacent bank (not shown) and then in the early 1990s, Youngstown's Butler Institute of American Art opened a branch there - I was a volunteer there. It's really sad as one of downtown Salem's redeeming qualities is/was the intact business district - if this keeps up, there won't be any 'there' there.  :-(

I am working with Columbiana County's land bank and I knew about the Tanfastic Building and the Rosetti building coming down, but the Butler is new news, unfortunately. The Tanfastic Building was not meant to come down until October, and plans were just coming to fruition on figuring out how to fill in the missing tooth once the building was gone.  We reached out to Heritage Ohio and Salem was just putting together grant work for their Main Street program. I met with the director of the Sustainable Opportunity Development Center based in Salem about a month ago, as well as the chair of the historical society, and there are plans to re-zone the area around Salem's business district to follow historical guidelines.  This building was in really bad shape, and the Rosetti building had a weak west facing wall which is why it is coming down.  The Butler I had last heard was in good shape and the chamber of commerce was looking to move in there.

 

It is a shame to see these buildings come down as Salem has a nicely dense business district.  There are some good organizations in place in the city for development, but it looks like it is too late to save this section of downtown.

 

 

Does Salem still have a Butler branch?

Does Salem still have a Butler branch?

 

No. 

I think it closed in 2008, the building had some issues with the roof and then the neighboring building began to fail.