Lorain Civil Defense Tower Erected – October 1953

One of those pieces of "Old Lorain" that very few people remember these days is the city's 1950s civil defense tower, used for watching for enemy aircraft, that was located behind the old City Hall. 

I've written about the tower several times. I guess I've been interested in it ever since my siblings and I drew a picture of it as part of a Saturday morning art class in 1968 at St. Mary High School run by local artist Paul Henschke.

The tower demonstrated Lorain's strong commitment to the Ground Observer Corps, consisting of civilian volunteer aircraft spotters, and Operation Skywatch.

1953 pamphlet

Before the tower was erected, Lorain's Operation Skywatch volunteers did their spotting from atop the Eagles Building, as noted in this article from the July 14, 1953 Lorain Journal.

Near the end of the article, it notes, "In a meeting today in Mayor John C. Jaworski's office it was decided to move the new lookout tower from the coast guard station to the vicinity of City Hall. Final decision in the matter will be left to city council at its July 20 meeting.

At that meeting, city council did indeed decide to install the tower behind city hall, although a few citizens had some other locations in mind, as noted in this article in the Journal on the day after the meeting.

By October 1953, Lorain planned to honor its Skywatch volunteers by celebrating  WULUSU ("Wake Up, Look Up, Sign Up") week. Medals and certificates would be awarded to volunteers (which I wrote about here) but the highlight of the week was the formal dedication of the new Skywatch tower behind City Hall. This October 17, 1953 Journal article tells the story.

And here's a photo from the October 23, 1953 Journal showing the tower building being lifted into place in preparation for its dedication.

By 1958, the city was still encouraging Ground Observer Corps volunteers to man the tower, as noted in this article that appeared in the Journal on July 22, 1958.

But a little over ten years later in January 1971, it was time for the tower to come down, as a new City Hall was on the way.

January 15, 1971 article from Journal