City Vacates Former Mascon Toy Property

A few weeks ago, the City of Lorain opened its beautiful new Central Service Complex for its Public Property Department on West Park Drive. 

Despite getting the heads up on the Sept. 13th Open House by my insider in the department (a fellow Admiral King Marching Band Member Alumni), I arrived a little too late on Sunday afternoon to catch the tour. But even from the street, the facility is quite impressive (see photos at the bottom of this post). 

This all means that the former home of the Public Property Department on E. 35th and Broadway is vacant again. The City had been using the property for various uses, including its Street Department, since 1977.

But before that, the location had been home until 1975 to one of Lorain’s lesser-known companies: the Mascon Toy Company. Here’s the front of the main building, facing Broadway, as it looked recently.

The view looking east across Broadway from W. 35th Street

And here are a few shots of the rest of the property.

The buildings facing south

Looking west on E. 35th

The back of the building that faces Broadway

I’ve written about the history of the Mascon Toy Company several times (here), and how it started out as the Steel Stamping Company. The company has enjoyed renewed attention in recent years, being featured with a special display of its products back in 2018 at the Lorain County Historical Society. 

It will be interesting to see if Lorain demolishes the aging buildings or if some new use for them is found.

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Here are a few articles about the Mascon Toy Company that I haven’t posted before. 

The one below ran in the Thursday, May 20, 1965 Journal. It’s an interesting look at the company at a time when it had not only changed its name earlier in the year, but also its focus on the kind of toys it was going to be producing (plastic rather than steel).

And this one about the firm’s Christmas offerings ran in the Journal on October 4, 1970.

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Here are a few shots of the new Central Service Complex on West Park Drive.