BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      A Youngstown-based architectural firm has filed a suit in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court seeking compensation for work the architectural firm says it performed for a new high school building that was never built.
      Strollo Architects, 201 West Federal St., is suing the Youngstown Diocese, its Bishop, George Murry, as well as Cardinal Mooney High School, seeking $175,000.
      In the suit, Strollo says it is “entitled” to recover the value of services it performed for a new Mooney High School, charging it was prevented from completing work “by the unilateral act of Bishop Murry in canceling the project.”
      The suit claims that Strollo had “reason to expect compensation.”
      Cardinal Mooney High School, 2545 Erie St., Youngstown, Oh., was constructed in 1956 and the suit claims by 2012 “the poor condition of the...building and population shifts in Mahoning County led to discussion within the [Youngstown] Diocese as to whether the...building should be repaired, or [the high school] should move to a new building and location.”
      Architect Gregg Strollo, a 1973 graduate of Cardinal Mooney, says in the suit he had been “assisting with the upkeep of the crumbling 1956 building (Mooney High School) for nearly 20 years.”
      In earl march, 2012, Strollo says he made a presentation at a meeting of Diocesan clerical and lay leadership, presided over by the Bishop, where he enumerated comparative costs of either renovating the current building, or constructing a new school.
      According to the suit, Strollo says renovations at the building on Erie St. could have been as high as $18 million, while the cost of building a new school could “be as high as $28 million.”
      Strollo says he presented a conceptual design at the meeting.
      “The conceptual design was simply that, a concept for discussion, not a complete or usable blueprint,” says the law suit.
      On Sept., 2013, the suit says the Cardinal Mooney High School Board met and received a formal proposal for a new high school building, according to the law suit.
      “The proposal specifically required [Strollo Architects] to produce marketing materials...to conduct the fund-raising necessary to pay for the project. [Strollo Architects] was to procure floor plans with naming opportunities noted, exterior building elevations, perspective sketches from multiple station points and rendered site plans within 50 working days of notice to proceed from CMHS,” says the suit, noting the proposal was unanimously received.
      “The vote by the board to accept the proposal constituted the execution of a contract,” claims the suit.
      But, fund raising efforts to acquire monies to build the project had not been finalized, as the suit suggests “During Nov., 2013, major donor commitments began to be made...”
      And, by May 5, 2014, funding raising was reported at only $14 million, still short of the $23 million goal.
      A day later, Bishop Murry announced the project was cancelled.
      Strollo maintains it had a “reasonable expectation that it would be compensated.”
      That expectation was denied on Apr. 20,29015, when Patrick Kelly, chief financial officer of the Diocese, informed Strollo “because construction was never begun, it is the position of the Diocese that no contract have even been entered into.”
      The suit seeks $25,000 each on seven claims:
      •Breach of contract
      •Promissory estoppel (breach of promise)
      •Unjust enrichment (in that Strollo’s services and work prior to the cancellation ‘played an integral role in motivating the community to recommit itself to the future of Mooney High School’)
      •Ratification (the Bishop ratified the action of the Mooney HS board in retaining Strollo)
      •Negligent misrepresentation (Strollo claims it was informed it was being employed to design and build a new school)
      •Alter ego (control over Mooney HS by Bishop Murry, and by the Diocese as ruled by the Bishop was so complete that Mooney HS had no separate mind, will or existence of its own.
      •Implied contract (the actions of Strollo, the Bishop and Mooney HS manifested the formation of an implied contract).
      Strollo Architects have work on several projects in the Mahoning Valley, including the St. Elizabeth Health Center in Boardman, the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University, and Struthers High School.”At no time did [Strollo} offer or promise to perform schematic work free of charge. At no time did the [CMHS] board, Bishop Murray or the Diocese state an exception that the work was to be performed free of charge...Neither was payment to [Strollo] contingent upon any factor,” says the suit.