Hank Kozloski's History of Oberlin Avenue Part 1

Here's a great article from the Lorain Journal of April 2, 1989 that's kind of timely in view of the current repaving of Oberlin Avenue. It's a nice history of that road, written by well-known Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozloski.

The article is interesting not only for the historical aspects, but also because of the late 1980s time frame during which it was written. At that time, Oberlin Avenue's property values were apparently going up. Now, more than 20 years later, the southern part of Oberlin Avenue sadly seems to be going into decline.

The article's kind of long, so I'll split it into two parts. Here's Part 1.

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Widening Horizons
Oberlin Avenue grew from farmland into busy commercial center

By Hank Kozloski
Journal Staff Writer

Oberlin Avenue from Meister Road south to Cooper Foster Park Road is a 1.7-mile stretch of residential and business activity in high gear.

Prior to 1953, when the building boom took off, the only attractions were the William J. Neuman dairy farm at the Oberlin-Meister intersection, a golf driving range and the Airport Tavern at West 37th Street.

Everything else was either woodlands or farms.

Not any more. Since Steve Navalinsky built Willow Hardware in 1953, at least 88 businesses – ranging from gas stations to medical office buildings – have altered the city's primary west-side artery into what many consider the fastest growing business area in town.

A vacant lot today might easily turn up tomorrow as a new orthodontist's office, a gas station, a pizza parlor. Property valuation has skyrocketed.

It has also become a traffic nightmare with rush hour testing even the most patient driver.

It wasn't always that way. Prior to 1940 it was a narrow gravel road which carried Model T's and horse-drawn wagons.

The biggest decade of business explosion was 1960-69, when 28 permits were issued. There were 23 in the decade 1970-79 and 15 from 1953 to 1959.

Only a dozen permits are documented from 1980 to 1988, but nine of those came during 1987-88, including five medical office buildings.

Three medical offices were built in the last year: Dr. Yun-Lai Sun Medical Building, 5295 Oberlin Ave.; Dr. Kumar Swamy Medical Building, 5065 Oberlin Ave.; and Dr. Yi-Wen Lai Medical Buuilding, 4520 Oberlin Ave.

Medical office locations are by far the most dominant with 19, followed by eateries and/or lounges (13), apartment complexes (10) and gasoline service stations (5).

The major growing pains occurred in two phases: when Lorain began annexation of what used to be Black River Township in the 1950s and with the widening of Oberlin Avenue to four lanes in the 1970s.

Making Oberlin Avenue four lanes didn't come easy. Most residents and businesses south of Meister Road, including St. Peter Church and School, fought it tooth and nail. They formed an association to combat the project and hired prominent attorney William G. Wickens Sr. to represent them.

"It resulted in a lawsuit involving the assessment of property owners," Wickens recalls. "The association met in large conclaves in the halls of St. Peter's Church to determine what they would do. They didn't want it."

The property owners felt they would bear the brunt of the cost to pave something that was going to be for the general public's use rather than for the homeowners, he said.

"They were going to have problems getting in and out of their driveways and traffic was going to be very heavy through there," Wickens went on. "It was going to create a hazard, they felt. The width of four lanes would be a problem for children crossing over to St. Peter School. Consequently, they felt imposed upon."