Many of us remember the halcyon days of the O’Neil - Sheffield Center, with pleasant memories of the grassy courtyard and the talking Christmas Tree.
The shopping center opened on May 1, 1954 and changed the way that Lorainites shopped forever.
I’m fairly sure that the Sheffield Restaurant became Sheffield House Restaurant in March 1960, and later, McGarvey’s Party Center in December 1961. Does anyone know for sure?
It’s been the subject of many posts on this blog over the years.
When the O’Neil - Sheffield Center opened in 1954, the newspaper publicity noted that there would be a restaurant there. That restaurant was the Sheffield Restaurant, and was included in the shopping center’s ads later that year.
Interesting, the restaurant passed into local ownership in May 1956, as noted in the ad above, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on May 1, 1956. A fire would gut the restaurant in late January 1957, but it would eventually reopen.
I’m pretty sure that the restaurant can be seen at the far right (next to Probst) in the undated photo below.
