Name Lorain’s Downtown Development – Sept. 1973

Back in the early 1970s when Lorain was getting ready to redevelop its downtown area, the decision was made that it should have a fancy name. But who should name it?

Consequently a contest was held to name the project. Here’s the scoop, as it appeared in the Journal on September 1, 1973. (Gee, I was just entering high school, maybe that’s why I don’t remember any of this.)

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Help Your City and Win $100 Savings Bond
Do You Have Name for Downtown Lorain Project?

DO YOU HAVE a name for the new downtown development area?

As redevelopment activities start in downtown Lorain, the Downtown Redevelopment Committee is inviting any and all citizens to “name the project.”

The contest is being sponsored jointly by the Downtown Redevelopment Committee and Lorain’s Community Development Department.

A U.S. Savings Bond for $100 will be awarded the person – man, woman or child – with the best name suggestion.

OTHER DOWNTOWN areas have names – such as Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle. Akron’s Cascades, Michigan City’s Beachway, Chicago’s Loop, and Cleveland’s Erieview.

A basic sketch of the tentative plan for the Lorain Downtown is shown at right to give you an idea of what may be included.

City of Lorain officials say they are ready to start the downtown property acquisitions and development, including talks with potential developers who are interested.

The downtown project consists of approximately 17 acres. In addition to our new City Hall, it is anticipated that there will be retail shopping areas, business offices, high rise apartment complexes, restaurants, and a market place. Emphasis has been placed on a civic center comprised of a mixture of retail space, offices, and community meeting rooms and halls. This complex is envisioned as the nucleus of the downtown development. The picture attempts to exemplify this proposed location of these facilities.

Below are listed the rules of the contest and the basis on which the best name will be judged. A panel of three judges will screen the entries.

1. ENTRIES MUST be received by Sept. 15.

2. THE ENTRY coupon should be clipped and sent to the LORAIN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, “Name the Project” Contest, Room 306, Broadway Building, Lorain, OH 44052

3. THE ENTRY NAME will be based on the following criteria:

a. the permanency of the project name

b. the name’s relationship to the Community

c. creativity

4. IN CASE OF a tie, the entry with the earliest postmark will be the winner.

5. ONLY CITIZENS of Lorain may enter the contest.

JUDGES are:

Mary Lou Connone, Civic Center Chairman

Carl Lepon, president of Downtown Merchants Association

Ed Uland, executive director, Chamber of Commerce

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Of course, if you’re a longtime Lorainite like me, you’ve got to be wondering: what name won? After all, the downtown area goes by no special name today.

Looking through the microfilm in the weeks after the contest ended, I couldn’t even find an article with the winning name. And when I got to the end of the September reel without locating an announcement of the winner, I was beginning to think that the contest was a dud.

Finally, on October 1, 1973 the winning name was revealed in the Journal: Crescent Center.

Dennis E. Northeim, a 25-year-old Air Force veteran, was the winner of the $100 U.S. Savings Bond. His entry beat out more than 800 entries.

As he stated in an article, “I was trying to link it with some name already established, one that people were familiar with and could identify with.”

He’s referring to the Golden Crescent, the Journal’s name for the area extending from Avon Lake to Sandusky with Lorain in the center.

It looks like the ‘Crescent Center’ name lasted for a little while, at least. It’s used in this 1974 article about Lorain’s Urban Renewal project.