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.

Ohio Turnpike Signs That Time Forgot

On a Sunday afternoon in late December 2016, I had to make a trip to Elyria. On the way home, I shot this photo of some ancient street signs located where Lorain Boulevard meets Lake Avenue.

The Ohio Turnpike sign is a rare die-cut version that you just don’t see any more. The sign pointing in the direction of Midway Mall has seen better days too – much like the mall itself.

That’s a Family Dollar in the photo on the left in the background.

While preparing this post, I looked at an aerial on Bing Maps of where the sign is located. Strangely enough, the now-demolished former Greyhound station was still in the photo where the Family Dollar is now located.

I remember having to catch a bus at that Greyhound station, but I’ll be doggoned if I can remember when that was – and where I was going!

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I just dug through my photo files and came up with another one of those faded, die-cut Ohio Turnpike signs. This one (below) is located in Huron near the intersection of Route 6 and Main Street on the south side of the highway looking east. I photographed it in 2016.

Interestingly, the Google Maps view from 2013 shows a different sign (below). Maybe somebody clobbered it with their car, necessitating dragging the older one out of retirement as a replacement.

Dave Zupkovich and His Orchestra Play the Showboat – 1950

I received a nice email from Kelli D’Agnese recently regarding my blog series on the Showboat last month.

If Kelli's name sounds familiar, it might be because her grandfather was Peter D’Agnese, well-known in Lorain for his popular restaurant on Broadway in the 1960s, as well as his sandwich & pizza shop on Root Road in the 1970s.

This time Kelli was writing about her mother’s side of the family – the Serbian side. She wrote,  "I have something you might like to see. My great uncle, (my grandmother’s brother-in-law) Dave Zupkovich, from Youngstown, was a popular Serbian tamburitza musician from the 1940s until his early passing on in 1963. He had several orchestras and they traveled all over.

"I just received these pictures from a friend in Canton, Ohio, whose father also played with Dave. In this photo, Dave and his orchestra play at the Lorain Showboat in 1950.

From left, Joe Marmilich, Joe Matacic, John Krilcic and Dave Zupkovich

The photo had a nice souvenir cover on it too with great artwork, indicating it was taken at the Showboat.

Kelli knew that the back cover of the photo would be of interest to me too. "Note the name of the photographer that was on the back of the photo!” she noted. "Enjoy!!”

I was surprised to see that Katherine and Alex Visci were listed as the photographers.

Of course, longtime blog readers might remember that well-known bandleader Alex Visci was my brother’s and my trumpet teacher back in the late 1960s and early 70s. (I wrote about him here, here, here and here.) 

I remembered that Mr. Visci’s wife was a photographer. With his active career and connections in the local nightclub scene, it makes sense that she would have an opportunity to use her talents shooting candids at the Showboat.

Kelli’s great uncle achieved quite a bit of success in his musical field. Dave Zupkovich and his Balkan Recording Artists made many records on the Balkan Records label.

Courtesy tamburitza78s.blogspot.com

Visit the Tamburitza and more blog to learn more about Dave Zupkovich’s career. And in the meantime, here’s a nice sample of his music.

Thanks for sharing, Kelli!

Just When Was the Lorain Lighthouse Built? – Part 2

There really is no controversy regarding the dates associated with the construction of the Lorain Lighthouse. It just depends on whether you want to celebrate the anniversary of a lighthouse under construction but functioning, or one that is totally complete.

It is easy to go online and find the various government documents with the lighthouse construction progress reports. Site construction was expected to start in early July 1916, and was planned to be done in 1917, according to this report in the 1916 Reports of the Department of Commerce (below).

The 1917 Annual Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses to the Secretary of Commerce included this update (below). The permanent light and fog signal were expected to be installed early in the 1918 season.

But by the time of the June 30, 1918 Reports of the Department of Commerce, the Lighthouse still wasn't quite done (see below).

Finally, the 1919 report provides a nice description (spread out over two pages) of the now completed lighthouse.

Note that the lighthouse came in about 25 bucks under the $35,000 budget. I hope the keepers had a good party with the leftover loot.

Just When Was the Lorain Lighthouse Built? – Part 1

The Lorain Lighthouse – known as the “Jewel of the Port” – is celebrating its 100th year anniversary on June 30, 217. That alone should bring a tear to the eye of anyone who lovingly calls Lorain their hometown. It’s been the symbol of the city for a long time now, in good times and bad.

Many of us have only seen it from certain popular vantage points, such as Hot Waters. Thankfully, the Sunset Dinner Cruises make it possible to see up close what most of us have only seen from afar.

The official Lorain Lighthouse website has an interesting explanation as to how the 2017 date was selected to celebrate the centennial. It notes, “Many dates are given for when the Lighthouse we see today was built. An article from the Lorain Journal, September 23, 1953 indicates 1898, with the title, “Lorain’s Lighthouse in 55th Year of Duty”, but that date isn’t close.

“Most sources give 1909 as the date, but the blueprint for the current structure is dated 1916. Information from the Lighthouse Board in the National Archives states: “On June 30, 1917, the concrete structure had been erected, roof completed except shingling, metal work of lantern erected, and concrete forms removed. Temporary light in commission shone from new lantern. It is expected to install permanent light this season and place fog signal commission early next season.” Also, an act of October 22, 1913 appropriated $35,000 for a light and fog station at Lorain Harbor.

“Thus the date 1917 is the most accurate available for the construction of the current Lorain Lighthouse structure.”

In preparation for the big anniversary, I decided to see if I could come up with some newspaper coverage of the lighthouse under construction, as well as its dedication. 

Some of the regional newspapers mentioned its construction. The Norwalk Reflector of August 16, 1916 noted, “The pierhead of the Lorain breakwater, erected ten years ago, has sunk eighteen inches it was discovered today. The pier is a concrete structure 22 by 22 feet in dimensions. The sinking was discovered when work of building the new lighthouse and foghorn station on the pier started. The new building will be 50 feet above the water and will be a three-story concrete and steel structure.

The Sandusky Register in its March 12, 1919 edition also made reference to the Lorain lighthouse in an article explaining the structure’s light and fog signal to mariners. The article referred to the lighthouse as “the new structure, gray square building with square tower rising from southeast corner, recently completed.”

Here is what the Register article was quoting from: a 1919 Notice to Mariners.

From the 1919 Index to Notices to Mariners

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any mention at all of the lighthouse on the available Lorain newspaper microfilm.  I checked both the June 30, 1917 date as well as the March 1919 date mentioned in the Sandusky paper.

I still have a few more months to try and find a dedication article. We’ll see. 

Perhaps the beloved lighthouse – remotely located as it is and not accessible to anyone without a boat – silently went to work with no fanfare at all.

The Lorain Lighthouse as it looked in 1919
(Courtesy lighthousefriends.com)

UPDATE

I understand now why I was unable to find something in the vintage newspapers for the June 30, 1917 date. That date is a government fiscal year-ending date found in the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Lighthouses to the Secretary of Commerce. The construction update information associated with that date is merely a summation of progress made up to that point. The June 30th date does not have special significance.

The Old Fire Truck in Cascade Park – Part 2

I reached out to Rick Kurish for help researching the old fire truck that used to be located in the playground at Cascade Park. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it easier for Rick by accidentally (and feeblemindedly) telling him it was an old train!

Rick responded, “My family frequented Cascade Park at least once or twice a year from the mid 1950s until the early 1960s, and while I and my brothers were all over the playground, I have no recollection of an actual railroad locomotive in the park.”

Once I informed Rick of my mistake, it didn’t take long for him to remember the fire truck.

“Ah, a fire truck, not a train!” he responded. “Yes, I remember the fire truck. It sat near the building that served as a concession stand. I was never too interested in the fire truck, but my younger brothers spent some time playing on it. I was more into the slides and swings --- especially the corkscrew slide.”

It didn’t take long at all for Rick came through as usual.

“Attached is a neat article from the Chronicle-Telegram of June 8,1956 which details the fire truck that the city of Elyria retired and donated to Cascade Park. The city apparently bought the truck new in 1929. Perhaps your correspondent who played on the truck in the 1960s will find the article interesting.”

Here is the article (below). It reveals that the fire truck was a 1929 Ahrens-Fox. The company was based in Ohio.

I sent the article to Fritz, who was happy to get the information about the fire truck that he remembered so well.

“It's hard to believe that it was put out to pasture in the park with only a couple thousand miles on it,” observed Fritz. “I'm sure it was well-loved and played on by all children who visited Cascade Park. I know by the time I first played on it the fire truck had been there at least 10 yrs. from what your article states from 1956. By then it was becoming well-worn when I first remember climbing upon it.

“I always remember it had that huge brass or chrome ball mounted on the front which I presume was part of the pumping unit.”

Here's a photo of Fritz and his siblings playing on the fire truck in the late summer or early fall months between 1966 and 1968.

"Standing on top on the upper left is my brother Adam, and next to him on the right is my sister Keely. I’m seated below them holding onto one of the levers,” noted Fritz.

"The next question for all,” muses Fritz, "is whatever happened to it when it was removed from the park and when?  Let's hope it ended up being preserved and restored somewhere. Being a 1929 Ahrens-Fox model, I would think that by today’s standards, it would be quite a collectible model.  

“Although I did not live in Elyria, we would go there frequently for summer band concerts, and on Sunday drives for picnics in my dad’s Model A Ford. We would also go there in the winter to go sledding down the hill.

“Thank you so much for searching and finding the information from my memories of the fire truck from 50 or so years ago!”

And thanks to Rick, a little bit of Cascade Park history – retrieved from the Chronicle-Telegram – is available online for others who remember the fire truck from their childhood.

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Click here to visit the official Ahrens-Fox website. And to see a restored 1929 Ahrens-Fox fire truck, click here.

The Old Fire Truck in Cascade Park – Part 1

Although I don't mention most of them on the blog, I get emails almost every day from people asking me if I have any information about something they remembered from being a kid.

I received an interesting email like that from Fritz Kuenzel in late February. The name seemed familiar, since I remembered that my brother Ken had played trumpet in a Musicians Union band that included two gentlemen named Hans and Fritz Kuenzel. (It was hard to forget them because the Katzenjammer Kids of comic strip fame have the same first names.)

Fritz’s email revealed the musical connection – and brought up a bit of Cascade Park trivia as well.

Fritz wrote, “I was reading one of your articles on Cascade Park at Elyria, Ohio. As a young boy in the 1960's, my father played in a local musicians union and they would periodically do concerts during the summer months at Cascade Park.

“My parents would take us along and we would play in the park playground during the band concerts. There used to be a very old 1930's era fire truck that sat in the sand in the playground for kids to play on. I have fond memories of climbing and playing on it.

“I was wondering, what ever happened to that old fire truck? What manufacture and year was it? Was it an old retired Elyria fire truck?  A friend of mine who grew up in Elyria also remembers the old fire truck and we talked about it last week on the phone.”

I traded emails with Fritz, who responded with more information about his father. “My Dad, Fritz R. Kuenzel, played tuba in the band,” he explained. ““I was named Fritz N. after him. His twin brother Hans played trombone in Dixieland bands, both are 82 yrs. old. Hans named his son Hans also.” 

A quick online search revealed that the Kuenzel brothers have had a long musical career. An item in the April 23, 1945 Chronicle-Telegram about the Avon Lake High School Spring Music Festival mentions that “Hans and Fritz Kuenzel will play a duet, “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.” Another Avon Lake High School concert mentioned in the November 25, 1947 C-T notes that “Hans and Fritz Kuenzel, members of the band, will play a trombone solo and a tuba solo, respectively.”

But getting back to the fire truck. Researching it was more difficult than I thought, and I only found a photo of the playground (with no truck) and few recent online mentions of the truck in the Chronicle-Telegram. 

Cascade Park playground photo courtesy of
The Great Elyria Time Machine website

An article from the C-T June 13, 2014 included this reminisce. “When I was a kid, my grandparents lived just above Cascade Park on Bath Street, and one of the biggest thrills of my kid life was getting to play in the park. This was before anything in our world was scary or dangerous, so it was ok for parents to let their kids climb all over a rusted out fire truck with jagged chrome edges and steel springs sticking up through the seats.”

Since I had come up short in my research, I decided to ask Rick Kurish for his help. Rick is a great researcher who has helped me many times. 

If anyone could come up with something about the Cascade Park fire truck, he could.

And he did!