About The Venue
Providing DIY Concerts and Entertainment to Youngstown, OH since 2016.
Building History
The Wickyards has been operating since March 19, 2016. The story does not begin here though as the building had over a century of history.
With construction finishing in 1908, with designs by a firm in Philadelphia, the Tudor style mansion became one of several dozen located on what was then Youngstown Ohio’s millionaire’s row. It was home to John and Alice Tod from January 17, 1909 to John’s death on February 14, 1953.
The Tod’s have a long history in the Youngstown area. John, for instance, is buried at Tod Homestead Cemetery, a place that was once his family’s farm. John was involved with many large industries in the Youngstown area in limestone, steel, healthcare, and finance. His grandfather, David Tod, was governor of Ohio during the Civil War. After John’s death, the building became a funeral home.
The funeral home, which had several names over the decades, quickly outgrew the mansion. In 1970 an addition was added on where the front porch once stood to create a viewing room. The funeral home last hosted a service in 2013.
Our Story
The Backyards Era:
The business actually started in November of 2011. Owner/Operator, Erik Engartner, opened the doors of a former storefront on Route 224 in Boardman that was once a swimming pool store called Backyards & Billiards. It was a temporary operation until the building found other uses, but it lasted from November 2011 to January 2014.
The building still had the sign of the former business up on the street, so we embraced that, and it became known as The Backyards. The venue hosted primarily alternative rock bands from Northeast Ohio that were predominantly High School age. Our light blue color branding comes from the walls from this former swimming pool store.
The Wickyards Era:
A few years went by and Engartner still had the passion to continue booking live music in a DIY setting. The former funeral home became available around this time, and it was too unique an opportunity to pass up.
Utilizing connections from the former venue and to keep some of the branding in tact it became known as The Wickyards to combine Wick Ave, and the name of the former venue.
Shows were roughly once a month for a couple years mostly rock-centric lineups. As more connections were made this grew to include more genres, like hip hop and folk.
The COVID-19 Pandemic allowed time for projects to take place and renovations to be made. After reopening in June 2021, The Wickyards has been full speed ahead hosting 20-30 concerts a year and broadening the other types of events hosted like comedy, drag, film shoots, and more.
People often commented on how haunted it was and with this perception in mind in October 2022, a haunted attraction known as “Nine Lives” was opened. It’s received both local and national attention, attracting nearly 700 attendees over 8 nights.
Today, The Wickyards continues to book many kinds of events year-round.
Venue Info
Types of Events we host
Concerts
Comedy
Film/Photo Shoots
Small Receptions/meetings
Paranormal Investigations
and More!
Location
Address: 711 Wick Ave, Youngstown OH 44505
Three Points of vehicle entry: two driveways on Wick Ave, one entry point near the stop sign on the westbound service road off of Andrews Ave.
Phone: 330-559-3914
Email: Wickyards@gmail.com
Hours: No regular hours. Only open during pre-booked events.
Accessibility
Once inside the front doors, there are 4 steps to get up to the main event level. Those in wheelchairs may need special assistance as there are no ramps or a lift to get up those steps.
Restrooms:
The Wickyards has two unisex restrooms with one toilet each.
Event Pricing
Concerts: either
door split (most common) with each act and the venue taking an equal share
buy it out $130 for a 4 hour event
Comedy: $70 for a 3 hour event
Paranormal investigation: $35 an hour
Private tours non-event related tours: $10 per group
All other events: $30 an hour
FAQ
Venue
-
Most experts would say yes! Results may vary
-
Fill out our inquiry form on the site.
Or if you attend an event, ask the front desk for a tour and if time permits, a tour may commence after the event.
-
Access to the whole house outside of apartment tenant bedrooms.
These must be wrapped up by 11pm and can be booked any day of the week after 5 on week days and any time on weekends.
These require at least 3 month notice.
Groups are expected to bring their own equipment.
-
Capacity in the main concert room is 100.
-
There are some side streets nearby that have street parking such as Bryson, and Elm St.
-
Yes, we have many wooden folded chairs and 5 tables.
-
No but you can bring your own food and drink.
-
Down the hall, either side of our grand staircase.
-
Yes. Please find the log in info for that inside the building.
-
We have heat throughout the whole building.
We have AC in the main concert room but nowhere else.
Events
-
Use the form on our event inquiry page.
-
We do not serve any food or drink, outside of a small snack stand where we sell bottled water, chips, etc.
Some events do feature food trucks or catered food. Please consult the event page to know if there will be food service. If there is no mention of it assume there will be none.
Feel free to bring in any food or drink you like though.
We do not permit the sale of any alcoholic beverages.
-
No.
-
This varies greatly based on time of year, weather, and the event itself.
Our all time average attendance is at 34 guests per show.
Our largest event thus far was Wick O Ween 2025 with a total of 125 guests.
-
Yes, all events are all ages unless otherwise noted. Check the event page. Minors under the age of 14 should be accompanied by an adult.
-
Normally 7-11pm with 35~min set with 4 acts involved with 15 min changeover times.
-
We require public events to wrap up around or before 11pm. Due to unexpected technical difficulties, sometimes it may run a bit longer but typically 11pm is the cutoff time.
-
No. We are fundamentally against all those practices.
-
We use a 7-channel mixer hooked up to a pair of powered monitors and a pair of mains. We primarily only mic vocals, or tracks, or anything else that might need it.
Essentially, if you like the way you sound in practice, you’ll love the way you sound here.
The system can also support bluetooth.
-
No we don’t. Please bring your own.