Last week’s posts all dealt with the annexation of Black River Township land in the late 1950s and early 60s that resulted in the city of Lorain as we know it today, with a huge west side miles from the mouth of the Black River.
And that west side – the part of Lorain that I grew up in – is still experiencing a lot of change.
Since I’ve been living slightly outside of Lorain for some time (almost twenty years in Sheffield Lake and two in Vermilion, my present home), I’m not always up on what’s happening in my hometown. Thus it was a complete surprise earlier this year to see a brand new Shell gas station pop up on the southeast corner of Tower Boulevard and Leavitt Road, across from Lighthouse Village shopping center. It’s not quite done yet.
It wasn’t even that long ago that the old-style transmission tower there was replaced with the newfangled pole (which I wrote about
here) and the corner was empty. But I’m impressed that at least it’s a national brand, instead of one of those weird mom-and-pop gasoline brands that you see just off the New York Thruway in the Seneca Nation.
It’s especially sad to see the old Emerald Valley Golf Club building sitting forlornly on the hill, with the land behind it being prepped for something.
It was also strange to see that the old closed soccer academy next door is now a Sprenger health care facility called
Silver Maple. How did I miss that?
I can’t forget the new No. 7 fire station going up on the southwest corner of Kolbe Road and West Erie, that I mentioned in a post last week. When the station is finished, it will be quite nice.
But it’s quite a ways from Meister and Leavitt, where the No. 7 station was located when I was a kid in the 60s and 70s. (It always felt good knowing the station was only about 2 minutes away from our house on Skyline Drive.)
So the current No. 7 station on West Park Drive will soon be closed, just like the long shuttered Nickles Thrift Store next door. Gee, why am I suddenly in the mood for some
Hillbilly Bread?
I guess this long-faded sign on West Park will come down as well. Hey, that looks like Black River Township’s 1913 hose truck on the sign.
6 comments:
Enjoyed the series on the Black River Townships last week, Dan. I also lived on the west side. Dad built a house at 2915 Brookview Drive in the Sherwood Allotment in 1963. Great neighborhood as a kid and our family thoroughly enjoyed it there until we moved to Denver in 1968. I remember the fire station No. 7 at Meister and Levitt. One of the Dad’s from the hood worked there.
I always remember Long's Airport on Leavitt, the planes taking off and landing, and of course the circus coming to town and setting up there.
How long has Fire Station #7 been at the current West Park Drive location?...It still looks modern and up to date....I don't see the need for the new location on the corner of Kolbe Rd....Could be the city is scamming some of the building money that was allocated for the new firehouse to line their own pockets?
According to an online Morning Journal article from May, No. 7 Fire Station has been at the West Park Drive location since 2002.
While things on the west side are changing, there are even changes occurring on the east side. Of course the new east side fire station has been completed for a while on the site of an old shopping strip on the corner of Garfield and Missouri Avenues. A welcome improvement to the area. Also the continuation of the Metroparks bike trail to Lake Erie is being completed. The trail is almost complete through Longfellow Park to Century Park, and they are currently working on the trail through the neighborhoods between Colorado Avenue and Longfellow Park. My understanding is that the Metroparks will take over administration of Century Park, which will be good, and the old poolhouse at Longfellow will be used by the park for maintenance equipment. A good use for an abandoned eyesore.
Thanks for the updates in this post...I too was surprised by the new gas station when I ventured up that way the other day! Not far from the Historic Shupe Homestead over here, but I don't seem to go that way too often.
Post a Comment