A HoJo for Sheffield Lake – May 1950

At one time, Howard Johnson's was the nation's largest restaurant chain, with its distinctive orange roofs dotting the roadside landscape from coast to coast.

Lorain had one down on West Erie Avenue that opened for business back in early November 1955 (which I wrote about here). But judging by the article below on the front page of the Lorain Sunday News of May 21, 1950, it was supposed to be in Sheffield Lake.

Unlike the final version that ended up in Lorain, the proposed Howard Johnson project in Sheffield Lake was going to include a motel in addition to the restaurant. (Lorain did have the Beachcomber Motor Lodge behind Howard Johnson's, but it was not affiliated with the restaurant.)

Anyway, as noted in the article, the Howard Johnson's restaurant/motel was opposed by Nicholas Vian, who owned a restaurant and cabins just west of where the development was to take place. The property would have required rezoning as it was currently restricted for residential building; the rezoning was eventually voted down by the village rezoning commission and – voila! – the restaurant ended up in Lorain five years later.

Today, the former Hojo building has been the home of Chris' Restaurant for many years, minus its orange roof.

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Vian's has been a favorite topic here on the blog, having been the subject of an eight-part series back in 2016. I've also devoted several posts to Howard Johnson's, as well as Chris' Restaurant.