Church Becomes Vermilion Police Station – July 1964

Sixty years ago this week, the city of Vermilion purchased a church on Grand Street to serve as the city's Police Station. The above photo and caption announcing the acquisition appeared in the Journal on July 8, 1964.

The funny thing is that the church looked like a police station, as noted in the photo caption. 

Today the brick building is home to the Old Vermilion Jailhouse Bed & Breakfast. Its very interesting website reveals to those who are still learning about Vermilion (like me) why the structure didn't look like your typical church. That's because the historic building had originally served as the city's library from 1935 until 1958. (This blog post features the brand new Ritter Public Library that replaced it.)

The building housed the Police Station until 1998. Fortunately, it would not be demolished, or remain unloved for long.

In 2003, according to this article on Cleveland.com. It notes, "In 2003, Amherst native Markos Paradissis bought the old Vermilion police station on Grand Street and used it for his growing firm, MV Circuit Design. The four-cell jail in the back was used for storage.

"Ten years later, he and long-time partner Marla Hayes came up with a better idea for the space.

"After seven months of renovations, Paradissis and Hayes opened the Old Vermilion Jailhouse Bed and Breakfast, where fresh flowers and high-end stereo equipment mix with concrete block and heavy metal doors."

It's wonderful to see entrepreneurs from the area take a chance with a creative business proposal and be successful, while also enriching the community and stimulating the local economy.

The view on Sunday