Lakeview Park Part 3

Here are a few shots of the original Lakeview Park bathhouse after the tornado struck Lorain on June 28, 1924. (These are photocopies of postcards that were laminated and assembled into a scrapbook and donated to the Lorain Public Library.)

   I remember as a kid always worrying about tornadoes. I guess growing up in Lorain will do that. 

   Here's a link to the Ohio History website with some more Lorain Tornado photos.

   

Lakeview Park Part 2

Here's a look at the old Lakeview Park bathhouse before it was torn down in 2006 (photo courtesy of the Chronicle and the Lorain County Metro Parks) and a vintage photograph of it from the Black River Historical Society's website. (Click here to visit their website to see this and other great photos.)

   Looking at the BRHS photo, it's kind of neat to see the original brick building before it was 'renovated' with the fake facade.

   My family thinks I'm nuts, but I'm not real crazy about the new bathhouse built by the Lorain County Metro Parks. It's nice – and a great homage to the original bathhouse destroyed in the tornado – but it's... well, too nice. I miss the old one, where you could go in there with your wet swimsuit on and get an ice cream cone.

   

Lakeview Park of Yesteryear

As it gets warmer outside and Memorial Day approaches, thoughts naturally turn to going down to Lakeview Park.

   According to the book Images of Lorain, published by the Black River Historical Society, Lakeview Park was the idea of Mayor Leonard Moore. He became mayor in 1916 and is credited with persuading City Council to purchase land west of town for a park.

   The postcards above show the park through the years. The postcard with the view from the water was postmarked 1943. The other two provide views that should be familiar to local baby boomers. It's interesting to see the long-gone B&O coal-loading docks in the background of the beach shot.

   It's funny to think how the park was in the 1960s, with its skimpy, rocky beach. No wonder my family used to drive all the way to Findley State Park in Wellington or East Harbor State Park out in Marblehead just to go swimming!

   And who can forget how, for a long time, it wasn't safe to go down to the park and watch the fountain lights change unless the doors were locked and the windows were rolled up!

   Times have certainly changed. Since 2006, Lakeview Park has been leased to the Lorain County Metro Parks, who have done a terrific job of improving and maintaining it. Although it was painful to watch the old bathhouse get demolished, at least it is great to see the park looking so good.

It's Yala's in a landslide!

Thanks to everyone (both of you?) who participated in my "Favorite Lorain Pizza Parlor Poll"! The winner: Yala's Pizza! I'm going to congratulate the winner by ordering one of their pizzas tonight! (It is Friday night, after all!)

Don't cook tonight, call... Pizza Delight?

I'm such a dumb cluck. I've been blogging about pizza for the last two weeks and forgot to mention a company that had a unique role in Lorain fast food/pizza history.

   Although the idea of offering both chicken and pizza might seem like an idea that's strictly for the birds, it seemed to work for Chicken Delight. Chicken Delight showed up in Lorain around 1965, delivering their complete chicken, shrimp, fish and rib dinners in their unique chicken-mobile. A year later the store added pizza to their menu, and by 1969 the product was named Pizza Delight®.

   By the late 1960s, a group of Chicken Delight franchisees were battling the parent company in court over the issue of having to buy equipment and packaging from the home office. That may be why around 1973, the Chicken Delight store on W. 21st Street switched their affiliation to a different franchise, Chicken Galore.

   The Chicken Galore store in Lorain eventually morphed into Chicken n' Ribs Galore, and finally closed. And what about Chicken Delight? Believe it or not, the company is still around, having flown the coop to Canada. Here is a link to their website.

Please participate in my Pizza Poll!

That's right – time is running out to vote in my first Favorite Pizza Parlor Poll! I limited it to Lorain pizzerias this time, but will cover some of the neighboring cities next time.

   If the chef mascot shown above could talk, he'd say "Selenti's Pizza is-a okay with-a me!" That's because he was used in Selenti's ads back in 1980. (I've spent a lot of time blogging about Yala's and Rosie's, but a co-worker from Lorain recently told me that Selenti's is still really good too!)

   And a guy who really knows Lorain – Lenny Camera – told me that Giovanni's on Grove Avenue is another great old time Lorain pizzeria.

   Man, I'm getting hungry just writing about all these different pizzas. Good thing it's lunch time!

The Salad Days of Pizza Hut Pete

Here are a few ads featuring Pizza Hut Pete from the early days of Pizza Hut in Lorain County. The large square ad is from 1969 and the vertical ad (below) is from 1973.

Note how in the 1969 ad, Pizza Hut Pete figures prominently on the building itself, with large cutouts of him on the building's roof and sides. Now he's just the answer to a trivia question.

I remember going to the Oberlin Avenue location a lot in high school, with the occasional trip "all the way out to Sheffield Lake" for something different and exotic (perhaps to razzle-dazzle an easily-impressed date?)

Now, for ten years, I've been living a mile from the Sheffield Lake restaurant and really don't think of it too much when I'm in the mood for pizza (although I used to love the priazzo).

Maybe if they hadn't gotten rid of Pizza Hut Pete...