Johnson tours Salem’s Courtyard Square complex

SALEM -- U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson liked what he saw Thursday during a tour of the historic Courtyard Square complex in downtown Salem, citing the restoration project as an example of innovation and investment in the community.

"When you let the American people keep more of what they earn, they invest," he said.

The Republican congressman from Marietta commented that the government needs to get regulations off of people's backs and get the tax code reformed in order to help both individuals and companies invest back into their communities, as Scott and Lisa Cahill have done and continue to do with Courtyard Square.

The Salem couple had invited Johnson to see their buildings along East State Street in the area between Lincoln and Penn avenues in a thank-you note sent when his office supplied them with inauguration tickets earlier this year. His office contacted the Cahills a couple weeks ago about coming for a visit.

"We're delighted to have him here," Lisa said.

Scott had never met the congressman before and wanted to talk to him about a number of issues regarding natural infrastructure and dams and historical renovations. A West Branch grad who remembered growing up in the Salem area when the downtown was filled with shoppers, he lived for 20 years in Virginia and eventually decided to move back to the Salem area to retire.

He didn't stay retired for long, immersing himself in the renovation of the buildings and working with his wife and a Technical Advisory Committee made up of other community members on a plan to bring life back to the downtown. He explained that Courtyard Square is a manifestation of the suggestions made in the TAC plan, to kind of prove them out.

Built in 1896 and 1897, the structures were purchased by the Cahills in 2012 and 2013. As the tour progressed, Scott pointed out many unique features they kept intact and restored, such as a tin ceiling in the space now occupied by Howard Hanna and some of the original plaster in the main hallway entrance.

"We thought it would be nice to have the original finishes," he said.

Call it an evolution or a work in progress, the restoration is continuing with Scott ready to tackle the unfinished upstairs next. In the space above another popular tenant in the building, Coaches Burgers owned by Patrick Howlett. Scott kept apologizing for the rough conditions in that upstairs section of the building, but also talked with excitement about his plans for a downtown club with a media room and teleconferencing capabilities. There's an old fireplace he wants to restore and a stained glass window he purchased from a bar in the Georgetown area of Washington, D.C. he plans to use for character. Two more of the stained glass windows from Mr. Smith's are located in the Coaches space.

In the back area of the upstairs space, he wants to turn two rooms into rooms that people can rent for the night to stay, like an old-fashioned hotel. Johnson noted how solid the space is and said there's a lot of potential. He suggested Scott speak with a gentleman he knows in Marietta who has a similar complex.

Howlett loved the vintage space for Coaches and was familiar with Salem and thought it was a great community. Coaches is one of nine tenants located in Courtyard Square in the completed areas. The other tenants on the ground floor include two real estate firms, Howard Hanna and Gallagher Clark & Carney, Salem's Serendipity frozen yogurt shop and Knit-wit Knits, which is one of the original tenants already in the building before the Cahills made their purchase. Upstairs tenants include Piranha Aquatics, W. Sassy Investments, Barron Insurance and a Hispanic church.

Lisa explained that Courtyard Square is actually made up of seven buildings. Plans call for a second restaurant on the ground floor, one she said would not compete with Coaches.

In the main area known as the courtyard, in what was the Manila building, Johnson said he liked its warmth and the way it felt like home. He recalled what JFK said about not asking "what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." He said this complex was "an example of a community pulling itself up by the bootstraps," applauding the effort of private citizens to do something without waiting for the government to help them out.

Johnson also was visiting Springfield High School where a young man was signing for the U.S. Air Force Academy and visiting the Youngstown Business Incubator. He already had been to a radio station in Alliance for an interview on Q92. He said he's still focusing on opportunities with the Marcellus Shale industry, such as the proposed cracker plant in Belmont County. His work on that recently took him to Thailand for meetings with various entities involved in the public/private operation. He also said Congress is working on tax reform, healthcare, infrastructure and making broadband Internet available to the unserved and underserved.

mgreier@salemnews.net