Historical building will soon be open for business again
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COLUMBIANA -- A historical building on North Main Street that has housed podiatry businesses for more than 70 years will open once again next month.
The building, located at 21 N. Market St., was constructed as a home in 1888 and has served as the location for podiatry medical and surgical practices since the 1950s.
The historical building, unfortunately, experienced flood damage around Christmas 2022 when a pipe burst, resulting in the closure of the existing podiatry practice while the owners worked to repair and restore the building.
A grand re-opening is now scheduled for Sept. 6 for the Advanced Podiatry practice owned and operated by husband and wife team, Dr. Diana Karnavas and Dr. Thomas Ashdown.
Karnavas and Ashdown first began using the building for their practice in 1994, right before welcoming their sixth child.
Prior to that, the home went through several improvements and upgrades over the years, thanks to the work of the past podiatry practices, the first of which belonged to Dr. Louis Consentino during the 1950s.
Dr. Karnavas said that Dr. Consentino was a "trail blazer in his day" as the practice of podiatric medicine saw many changes in his latter years, and that he had an operatory constituted in order to perform in-office surgical procedures, which was ahead of his time.
By 1986, Dr. David Tomchek was assigned the practice and building and he and his wife, Marietta, would leave their stamp on the property, converting it from a first-floor clinic with a second floor rented apartment to a four-story functional office space with an upgraded in-house surgical suite and wheelchair accessible ramps before the advent of the functional disabilities act, Dr. Karnavas said.
The building became the home for Advanced Podiatry in 1994, with doctors Karnavas and Ashdown, who used it for administrative purposes for some time. Then, in 2004, the duo would perform a remodel of the interior space.
On Dec. 23 of last year there was an ice storm in the tri-county area causing the office to close for an extended holiday break.
However, Dr. Karnavas said that it was discovered a few days later that there was a water line break on the second floor of the building that caused extensive damage to the first floor clinic.
The basement was still in the original condition as its construction, with dirt floors and sandstone walls.
With the repair work underway, the doctors took to the task of a total remodel and upgrade of the building, resulting in the business being closed for eight months.
During demolition artifacts within the studs were found and the original 10-foot ceilings were exposed, they said.
The doctors are excited to share that the practice will once again be open for business in Columbiana.
In addition to the North Main Street location, Advanced Podiatry also has offices in Champion, Cortland, Howland, and Austintown.