It’s Check-Out Time for Shoreway Motel

Vintage postcard of the Shoreway Motel in happier times

Lorain’s certainly not wasting any time demolishing the Shoreway Motel on West Erie Avenue. I noticed last Thursday that a big red dumpster (below) had taken up residence there. That ominous sign is as good as hearing the fat lady sing.

Sure enough, when I drove by there today, the demolition was well underway.

I resisted the urge to grab a souvenir cinder block for my collection.

Oh well, here’s hoping the great signs out front get a new home.

****

Remember when the Shoreway Motel was for sale back in 2010? It still looked pretty good back then.

Demo Update

I hope that COLOR TV sign is saved!

Well, it looks like the old motels on the western approach to the city will finally have their date with the bulldozers. 

According to an article in the Morning Journal on March 20, “Lorain City Council voted 10-0 to award a contract to knock down Erieview Motel, 2800 W. Erie Ave., and Shoreway Motel, 3945 W. Erie Ave.”

Shoreway Motel up close

Erieview Motel

The Parkview Motel and Lake Motel will be dealt with in the near future by Council.

Some of the motels were supposed to have been demolished by October 2015.

On the other hand, one structure seems to have been awarded a stay of execution this week: the closed bait shop that once served as the clubhouse for the Lorain Yacht Club. The Morning Journal reported (here) on March 26 that the city is seeking proposals for a seasonal service or concession stand at the dock, known as Hot Waters. This includes the Hot Waters Bait Shop. The article noted, “Any proposal using the building must include a capital improvement plan with proof of finances, according to the city.

“Council agreed it should be razed, but wanted the city to seek possible concession providers this year because the site is well used by Lorain anglers.”

It will be interesting to see if a proposal is submitted. I hope so.

Shoreway Motel – Then & Now

I saw the above postcard on Ebay recently and recognized it as one of the motels on West Erie Avenue in Lorain slated to be torn down. Since I only had postcards of three of the four motels in their heyday, I needed this one of Shoreway Motel to complete my demolition collection. Fortunately, no one else was interested in bidding on the postcard, and it was easy to win it.

Back here, I provided some history of the motel. It started out as the Beth-Shan Motel and Trailer Court around 1953. It was known by its current name by the time of the 1960 city directory.

The place was up for sale in 2010 and included 20 mobile homes along with the 12-unit motel as part of the purchase. Today, the motel is scheduled to be barricaded by July 18th, and demolished by October of this year.

Here's my "now" shot from the holiday weekend. I tried to photograph it at the same time of day as that of the vintage postcard.

It just might have been one of the last opportunities to get a nice photo of it.

Own a Lorain Mom & Pop Motel on US 6

The short commercial strip of motels on US 6 as you approach Lorain from the west has always fascinated me.

I think back about Lorain's glory days of the 1950's and wondered what it would have been like to be passing through Lorain on old '6 and 2' (US 6 and State Route 2 as it was known back then) and need to find a room for the night. If that was the case, or perhaps if you were spending some of your vacation in Lorain doing some fishing or boating, then you might have stayed in one of these motels.

There's several of them that were there in the 1950's and are still there now.

Well, if you ever had a hankering to run a motel in Lorain on US 6, one of those vintage motels is currently for sale. The Shoreway Motel and Mobile Home Park went up for auction at the beginning of August and still is for sale.

This particular motel has been there since around 1953. Back then the motel was known as the Beth-Shan Motel and Trailer Court and its address was merely "Stop 109 West Erie Avenue". By 1957, it was one of the listings described as being on the 'dead end' and had 4000 West Lake Road as its address. By 1960 the motel had its current name.

The real estate listing notes that it has had the same owner for more than 20 years and includes a 2-bedroom owner residence. It occupies a 1.12 acre lot and includes not only the 12-unit motel, but 20 mobile homes.

For me, the best part is the vintage COLOR TV by RCA sign. It's a classic!

For the real estate listing on the Barck Auction & Realty website, click here.