The vast silent rooms of the Youngstown Mattress Co. warehouse on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard were once a hub of industrial productivity. Situated on the western edge of downtown, the 100 year old structure was part of an early hardware store before becoming a mattress factory in 1965.

Today the old brick building shows signs of a different kind of productivity — artistic creation. Throughout the warehouse's spacious three floors, paintings and sculptures have cropped up like colorful flowers on a barren landscape.

The building's owner, sculptor Coy Cornelius, says this is only the beginning. Cornelius has a vision for the 18,000 square feet. He wants to transform the property, now called The Youngstown Mattress Company Arts Center, into a working art studio and public exhibition space.

"I want this building to be a place people can come to think about the relevance of art in their lives through exposure to art exhibitions or classes. I want to create an urban cultural environment that aids to the cultural growth of the community," Cornelius said.

Progress: With the help of fellow artist, Joyce Bielik, Cornelius's vision is starting to take shape. Samples of both artists' work are now on display and Bielik is teaching ceramics classes on the first floor.

Bailiwick Framing shop just opened on the first floor, and an exhibition featuring local artists work was recently held on the second floor.

We have 6,000 square feet . . . on each floor here. We want that space to be a vehicle for art. Our final plans are to make the second floor a gallery, have offices and classrooms on the first floor and a studio and classrooms in the basement., " said Bielik. "Eventually I would like to teach classes in painting, bronze casting and plaster work here in addition to ceramics."

Through fundraising and hard work, Bielik and Cornelius continue to renovate the warehouse's basement. A section of the basement's old stone foundation once connected to a store that was part of the warehouse in the early 1900s. Cornelius would like to remove part of this connecting wall and create an outdoor sculpture garden using stones from the razed store's foundation.

Input welcome: Cornelius said YMCAC invites individual and group proposals from artists interested in furthering area artistic and cultural development.

"Our gallery offers opportunities for emerging artists to display their work he added."

Transplanted from Missouri, Cornelius purchased the building in 1982 whwn he was teaching sculpture classes at Youngstown Statre University. "I wanted to own a commercial building because I was interested in urban renewal and revitalization," he said.

Cornelius, who has been a hair dresser for 40 years, opened a salon on the buildings's first floor in 1992 and has no plans to close it down. "The salon brings a lot of traffic into the building. Many people in the art communityknow we are here, but much of the general public doesn't. The salon helps to bring people in to see the art," he said.

Soon after this article appeared in the vindicator, Cornelius added Gina Nemeth & Associates Massotherapy as new tenant.