Wiping Out a Block on Broadway – August 1, 1963

Sixty years ago, Lorain City Council was in the process of rezoning an entire city block – between 17th and 18th Street from Broadway to Livingston Avenue – so that the buildings currently on the property could be torn down. The plan was to replace the demolished buildings with a golden age center built by the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority to house retired persons. A high rise building and several smaller, home-like units comprised the project.

Above is a page of photos by Journal photographer Bill Conley showing the buildings and dilapidated stores that would be coming down. The page ran in the paper on August 1, 1963.

By October 1963, it was full speed ahead with the plan, as described on this blog post in which a final tour of the condemned buildings was conducted. By mid-February 1964, the demolition phase was just about done, as shown in the photos and article on this post.

It's interesting to see what was torn down to make room for the housing project. Too bad.

Anyway, in the photo montage, I noticed some empty bottles of one of my favorite beers: Black Label!