April 3, 2008 6:55 a.m.

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society has purchased the Harry Burt/Ross Radio Building, 325 W. Federal St. in the downtown for $150,000 and will transform the three-story structure into a new Mahoning Valley History Center.

The executive director of the historical society, H. William Lawson, announced the purchase Wednesday.

Having outgrown its space at the Arms Museum, 649 Wick Ave., which it will keep, the historical society will use the Ross Building, which has 22,000 square feet, to house permanent and visiting exhibits, conduct classes and seminars, and store archives and collections.

The building is a piece of Youngstown and American history because it is where the Good Humor bar – vanilla ice cream on a stick dipped in chocolate – was born in the 1920s.

Its inventor, Harry Burt, bought the building in 1921 and remodeled it, converting it to a candy and ice cream factory, retail store and public dining and assembly rooms.

After Burt died in 1926, his family continued to make and sell candy there until 1935 when they sold it to James Ross, founder of the Ross Radio Co. Ross Radio has continuously operated here ever. Ross Radio will move to new quarters once renovation work begins, says the historical society’s manager of external relations, Leann Rich.

That work may be delayed because the society has applied for historic preservation tax credits and awaits word on approval.

In 2006, Parade magazine recognized the building by carrying an article by Youngstown architect Ronald Cornell Faniro about the structure. The building has been nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Mahoning Valley Historical Society, founded in 1875, has been housed 40 years in the former residence of Olive F.A. and Wilford P. Arms. The mansion with 10,800 square feet, and carriage house, with 5,000 square feet, “were designed to be a private home, not a museum,” Lawson says, “and we are challenged every time we open a new exhibit. Because of space limitations, we are unable to display the vast majority of our collections. We have little space for educational programs, and our ability to care for collections is compromised because we have to store more of our artifacts away from the museum in spaces with inadequate climate control.”

As it sought to expand, the directors and staff of the society explored several buildings locations until determining last year that the Burt Building was the best location to create the new history center.

"Its location downtown is also important and will hopefully stimulate further redevelopment of the city’s core,” Lawson commented.

The society is quietly raising the funds needed to rehabilitate and adapt the structure. When complete, the new history center will:

• Feature interactive, inclusive exhibits that relate to all people who live in the Mahoning Valley, dedicated education space and research facilities in a state-of-the-art visitor destination.
  
• Improve collections management by consolidating the artifacts into onsite, climate-controlled storage and conservation rooms.
  
• Offer a new venue downtown for cultural and community activities that the society will rent out.

The society’s fund-raising “campaign will create a first-class history center for residents of the Mahoning Valley and beyond,” said C. Reid Schmutz, president of the board. “In a sense, the new facility will become a ‘family learning center’ where [residents] learn about the Valley’s heritage.”