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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Come to Youngstown, Ohio and Blow Stuff Up |
| 2004-05-26 |
| Sounds like fun. Let’s go. Economic decay could be the salvation of Youngstown, Ohio. You don’t hear that too often. The industrial city, which once had a population of 250,000, has been impacted by the elimination of manufacturing jobs, and its population now stands at 80,000. But according to Richard Ouzounian, who runs the Youngstown Warren Film Commission, the town is a virtual film set waiting to happen. It has an airport, complete with a new terminal and 9,000-foot runway, which handles only four flights a week. It has a 2,016-bed prison that houses only 21 inmates. There’s also an empty hospital as well as empty schools and libraries. I blame Bush. Hell, why not. "You have industrial sites," Ouzounian says. "Unlike most cities where they don’t want you blowing things up, around here they’d be thrilled to death if somebody came here and blew up some of this stuff up!" A ringing endorsement of Youngstown. "Come! Blow us up!" Ouzounian also is working with one of the trustees of the film commission to take one of the many deserted warehouses and turn it into a soundstage. He points out that, while there may be no film infrastructure in the town, good crews can be found in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, both within an hour’s drive. "You have, essentially, an industrial city backlot that’s waiting to be used," he says. Sounds like a good place for the Democratic Convention. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #9 Sorry guys, the Dear Hunter mill setting was in Mingo Junction. Some people believe it was Struthers because of the hill. Chaney HS '72. |
| Posted by: Frank 2004-05-27 10:21:08 AM |
| #8 Doc: I don't know about you, but I've been to that wedding reception. Meaning, not that I was an extra in the wedding reception scene of The Deer Hunter, but that I got dragged to wedding receptions in Youngstown every weekend by my parents when I was growing up, and that one in the movie is a dead-on authentic Youngstown wedding reception. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-26 5:11:28 PM |
| #7 Lol Doc! I gonna get the DVD and examine that scene closely. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-05-26 3:49:20 PM |
| #6 Portions of The Deer Hunter were shot there also in the late seventies. They were looking for that steel mill ambiance and boy they found it. If you look closely, you can see yours truely in the background having a beer in the bowling alley scene. It's the one with the drunk floozy sitting at the bar with the Army Sgt. The name of that place was the Bowl-a-drome. They had closed it for the day to shoot and needed extras that looked like they drank all day in a bowling alley. Man, talk about type casting. |
| Posted by: Doc8404 2004-05-26 3:31:26 PM |
| #5 When I was a kid, the town was thriving, but Mill Creek Park (my favorite hangout) was suffering from "deferred maintenance." Now, the park's in great shape, but the rest of the town is suffering from deferred maintenance. |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-05-26 1:46:59 PM |
| #4 Stuff used to blow up a lot in Youngstown in the 60's. I grew up there and the mob was pretty active. The town is really depressing to visit now (except for Mill Creek Park!) |
| Posted by: Frank 2004-05-26 11:47:27 AM |
| #3 this decay explains a lot about James Traficant's rug....looked like a dead squirrel |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-05-26 10:04:05 AM |
| #2 They should put signs in English & Arabic in front of a partcularly ominous looking industrial hulk reading "Super Top Secret Zionist Plutonium Production Plant". It's be terrorist flypaper, we could just pick them up as they arrived. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-05-26 9:28:46 AM |
| #1 My Mom and Dad both grew up in Youngstown. I visited it many times as a boy -- back when it was still thriving. I suppose I should pay one last visit while there's still something to see. |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2004-05-26 9:10:09 AM |