Tuesday, March 8, 2022

Midway Plaza Ad – March 3, 1971


For my third straight post about the happenings at Midway Mall back in the early 1970s, here’s an ad for Midway Plaza. The advertisement announcing that the office complex was now leasing ran in the Journal back on March 3, 1971.

Midway Plaza, “In the Heart of Midway Mall” according to the ad, is one of the buildings across from the aging shopping mall that I never really paid any attention to. In fact, I wasn’t exactly sure if it was still there until I drove out there to take a picture (at right).

The buildings’s developer might have anticipated that the Midway Mall area, so close to the Ohio Turnpike and the relocated State Route 2, would become an important new center of commerce for Lorain and Elyria. But today, the whole area is in a slow decline, which probably explains why the lonely building is not only still leasing, there’s a For Sale sign in front of the building. Perhaps the recently announced plan to convert part of the Mall into medical facilities will increase Midway Plaza’s chances of a sale.

However, it’s still a very attractive office building. It was built in roughly the same time period as the monstrous Lorain City Hall, but is aging much better.

Courtesy Cresco Real Estate

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't see all the hate for buildings of this style.Like Lorains city hall,this building is a somewhat watered down brutalist design.Looks better and is stronger than todays cardboard ticky tacky plywood and balsa wood buildings.That lease space at $11.50 per square foot is a super bargain.

Anonymous said...

It's a bargain only if you're not concerned about all the convicts/parolees coming in and out of there all day long. That's where all the drug testing is done for the Lorain County Parole Board. Don't leave your car unlocked.

Anonymous said...

If that building sells,those druggies will be kicked out on the street where they belong.Like Tim Misny likes to say...."I will make them pay!"

Anonymous said...

I don't get your dislike of Lorain City Hall. I think it's a keeper on many levels.

Dan Brady said...

Well, I’m sure it’s not going away anytime soon. I just don’t like the vertical architectural elements that are flared at the base, or the angle of the police station relative to it on the property. To me, the whole thing looks very arbitrary, too huge for the land it’s on and very dated in design. But that’s just my opinion. Others think it still looks very modern.