Owners have plans for Broadway

Work starts on various construction projects throughout downtown area

Some new faces and new construction are coming to Broadway this summer.

A group of new owners say they are developing their plans for buildings in and around downtown Lorain.

Broadway Building

On Aug. 15, downtown observers spotted a multi-story lift outside the Broadway Building, 301 Broadway.

The staff and equipment from Coon Restoration & Sealants Inc. were there primarily for workers to begin measuring the building for upcoming work, said Radhika Reddy, the Cleveland businesswoman who has formed Ariel on Broadway LLC to create a new hotel and event space there.

Most agreements with contractors are completed, Reddy said, and the company is waiting on final paperwork for

“Iwanttoseeitas pretty as possible, because it’s going to help everyone.”

— Stagecraft owner Steve Simon

financing before starting construction.

If all goes well, construction could start in coming weeks, she said.

“I have to give Radhika Reddy credit on the hotel, because people are now starting to step up and go, OK, I’m comfortable making this move because that’s there,” said Lorain architect Gary Fischer, who also is a member of the Lorain Design Review Board.

Lorain Palace Theater

On Aug. 15, Lorain Palace Theater Executive Director Chris Pataky and a crew removed the awning from Visual Expressions, 901 Broadway.

Former building owner Brian Bartlebaugh and current owner Jon Veard donated it to the Palace.

The crew was to install it on the alley side, or north side, of the theater building to become a cover for the Palace’s Sixth Street Experience gathering with drinks and music on Friday nights.

Pataky said the theater staff and supporters are grateful for the donation of the canopy, which is more than 20 feet long and in nice shape.

It will make a perfect fit over the doors in the alley and could get some new lighting underneath.

Pataky worked with theater Technical Director Isaac Thompson, Maintenance Supervisor Ed Urban and Theater Technician Andy Hartman to move the awning.

Photography and Stagecraft

Jason Shaffer, owner of Jason Shaffer Photography, has purchased 633 Broadway.

Shaffer will move his photography studio there and use the space for Stagecraft, another business that will move to Lorain from Amherst.

He and Stagecraft owner Steve Simon said they were longtime occupants of downtown Amherst.

But they began searching for new locations when the owners of their respective spaces sold the buildings.

When that happened, Shaffer said he heard rumblings about what was happening in downtown Lorain and met Kurt and Page Hernon, owners of Speak of the Devil neighborhood bar, 201 W. Fifth St.

He said he began looking for spaces and found one.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Shaffer said. “We just decided it was a great place. What better place to be than next to the Palace Theater?”

Shaffer acknowledged he travels a lot for his work photographing people, places and things, but maintaining a studio puts him in a different pool of professional photographers in the county.

Simon said his company started in 1981 and specializes in repair of musical instruments, speakers and components.

Inside 633 Broadway, Simon said they are “tearing up five layers of God knows what” to get to the original floors inside.

“Jason’s one of those that like to take things back to how things originally were,” Simon said. “He’s putting in a ton of work.”

Simon said he supports the plan to add new streetlights in the Broadway streetscape.

He also suggested adding communications cable for the east side of Broadway and wireless speakers

for downtown light posts to play music or serve as a public address system.

“I want to see it as pretty as possible, because it’s going to help everyone,” Simon said about Broadway.

Madi B’s

A few doors down, Mary Fields has purchased the former Faroh’s Candies, 657 Broadway, to become Madi B’s Scratch Chicken restaurant.

In May, she and her family scored a food hit with their elote, made of corn, cream, lime juice and other ingredients, served at the Lorain Better Block event May 19.

Fields also hopes to work with Lorain developer Gary Davis to use the Charleston Coffee House space across the street.

“We’re definitely excited to be part of Lorain,” Fields said.

She recounted bringing visitors to the area and they remark about Lorain’s potential.

“I’m like, well, it’s starting now,” Fields said.

Incidentally, Fields said her grandmother was Shaffer’s kindergarten teacher.

Fields and Shaffer knew each other growing up and going to school in Amherst, and remain friends now. Joshe’s Place

Lorain real estate agents Jeff and Andrea Neal have purchased 822 Broadway, the building known as Joshe’s Place.

Jeff Neal has served on the board of the Lorain Palace Theater and Andrea Neal is a member of the Lorain Design Review Board.

Like many people, they have called for more effort to revive downtown Lorain, Jeff Neal said.

They decided to become part of that movement, he said.

“In all honesty, it was kind of one of those things,

put your money where your mouth is,” Jeff Neal said. “We decided to invest in downtown Lorain.”

The couple plans to restore the building, although they do not yet have exact plans for final users.

It could become a combination of a first floor eatery and apartments on the third floor, Jeff Neal said.

The second floor has amazing woodwork and could be an ideal cigar bar, although that use may depend on state regulations that prohibit smoking in public places, he said.

On Aug. 15, a truck-bed trash container was outside the building and a crew was hauling out refuse.

“I think Lorain is progressing,” Jeff Neal said. “It’s about time.

“We’ve got one of the best places that you could ask for on Lake Erie. We just have to take advantage of it.”

The former Nelis Wallpaper building, 858 Broadway, is undergoing reconstruction efforts now.

On Aug. 15, a crew of contractor T.J. & Sons of Avon Lake was rebuilding the facade facing Broadway and the south side of the structure.

“We got our hands full, obviously, with what was involved between the before and after,” said Terry Jardonek of T.J. & Sons. “But we’ve been getting a lot of compliments.”

The company hopes to continue the interior renovations once the owner has tenants for the space, Jardonek said.

“Once they see the finished product, I’m sure people are going to want to be here,” he said.

Fischer has worked with owner, James Krejsa, for several years on plans to restore the building.

Off Broadway

Mobile chef Jenso Soto has become known as the proprietor of Smash! The World’s Greatest Food Truck, which appears at various events around Lorain County.

Soto also is the house chef for Speak of the Devil.

This summer, Soto purchased the buildings at 737 and 747 Reid Ave., about a block off Broadway.

“I’m not sure yet what concept I will be putting in there, but I definitely have seen the potential in downtown Lorain and am planning on putting roots here,” Soto said in an electronic message to The Morning Journal. “I want to be a part of bringing this town back and hope I can inspire others to do so as well.”

Meet and greet

Kurt and Page Hernon said they are planning a neighborhood meet-andgreet night for the new building owners and anyone interested in learning more about downtown Lorain.

“Page and I have this sense of just wanting to advance this sense of downtown community here,” Kurt Hernon said. “There’s just a lot going on and we’re humbled and flattered that a lot of these people keep citing us as the reason that they’re coming down here.”

Details about the gathering will be available soon.

Kurt Hernon said he was waiting for another building sale to close, which could come as early as this week.