Just a few years ago, a drive down Youngstown’s Glenwood business corridor by the neighborhood area of Idora could prove highly depressing. Derelict buildings, visible gang activity, and general malaise pervaded the area.

The past several years have seen several revitalization projects, many led by the Idora Neighborhood Association and the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, change the face of the corridor and the surrounding Idora Neighborhood.

This month a Columbus based mural artist, Christopher Goldstein, painted a bold and beautiful mural on the side of a former nightclub. A group of local residents and artists helped Goldstein develop ideas for the mural itself, which depicts several aspects of the history of the Idora Neighborhood, from the former Idora Amusement Park, to the current revitalization projects. The individuals pictured in the mural are residents of the neighborhood itself: children, community gardeners and the larger than life neighborhood association leader, “Big” Jim London.

The Idora mural is the first of two murals that will be completed off of Glenwood Avenue this summer.

– Photos and words by Sean Posey