Avon Lake Power Plant to be Demolished

In one episode of the British comedy/Sci-Fi TV series Red Dwarf (one of my favorite shows), the crew visits a universe identical to our own, but in which time runs backwards. Although this concept is primarily a gimmick to run film backwards for humor, the whole idea is presented as a better alternative to our own universe.

Why? Because in the backwards universe, no one dies. Instead, people start out dead, or at least old, and get younger as time goes on until they eventually become babies and are put back in the womb. No one is murdered in this universe; instead, someone holding a gun sucks the bullets out of a dead body and the person springs back to life. In other words, in the backwards universe, things seem to move in a more positive direction.

So what does this have to do with today’s post? Well, I often think Lorain County is in its own backwards universe.

For decades, farmland, woods and lakefront land gradually disappeared as they were transformed by developers for residential and industrial uses. But in the last ten years or so, the major development has stopped. Instead, things are getting torn down (such as any number of houses, motels, old manufacturing plants, shopping centers, schools, funeral homes, etc.) and replaced by nothing but a grassy, vacant lot. Just like it was before all the development began.

The latest example is the news that the Avon Lake lakefront power plant on Lake Road is going to be shut down and demolished in the next two to three years.

It’s pretty incredible. According to an article in the Chronicle-Telegram, the city of Avon Lake said it is “committed to the site being repurposed for public access and recreational use that contributes to the future of our City and citizens.”

In other words, just like the land was used before the plant was built, when at one time it was the home of Avon Beach Park. (Read all about it on Drew Penfield’s Lake Shore Rail Maps website.)

Who could have ever imagined that this would be possible in our lifetime? I’m happy for Avon Lake.

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I’ve written about the Avon Lake plant – and what was there before it – before.

This post shows a 1924 architectural rendering of the proposed plant.

This post dealt with the August 1926 start up of the plant for the first time.

This post presents a newspaper article from August 1926, shortly after the plant opened, in which old times waxed nostalgic about the days when the property was the home of Avon Beach Park dance hall and amusement park.

This post is about the dedication of a 1950 expansion of the plant.

This post shows the plant circa 1957.