Former Baetz Dairy Bar – “New" Then & Now

Since I started doing this blog back in 2009, I’ve done lots of “Then & Now” photo compositions.

I guess that it’s inevitable then, that sooner or later I would be updating some of the “Now” photos – relegating them to lowly “Then” status!

Here’s a good example. Baetz Dairy Bar and the Lorain Arena has long been a favorite topic on this blog since 2010, when the property was for sale.

Over the years, I've found several photographs of the buildings, showing how the property evolved.

Here’s the Grand Opening ad for Baetz Dairy Bar, which ran in the Lorain Journal on June 9, 1949.

 Here’s an ad that ran in the Journal a few months later, in Sept. 1949.

And here’s a 1955 aerial view, after the Lorain Arena was built right behind the Dairy Bar.

Here’s how both buildings looked when the whole complex was for still for sale in 2011 (below).

Today, the property has been home to Rockwell Metals since May of 2012. Happily, the company has removed the Kerr Beverage signage and given the building an attractive makeover.