Business owners band together

Merchants: Improvements are needed, but Broadway bills are unwelcome

Broadway merchants say banding together may be the next best way to improve downtown Lorain.

On Feb. 24, about 30 people came out for a Friday night mixer of people and ideas about the streetscape project that the city has proposed for Broadway from Ninth Street to Erie Avenue.

There was no conclusion, although organizer Gary Davis, owner of the Gardens of Charleston condominiums, encouraged the proprietors to form a business district. The group could get together

again next month at the banquet space of the Charleston Banquet Facility, 630 Broadway.

The crowd seemed to agree on the general principle that Broadway has some good existing businesses and true future potential.

But it also needs work. Suggestions ranged from more accountability for absentee landlords, to a broader approach that improves the neighborhoods around Broadway.

The Broadway streetscape could be a good idea – but the downtown property owners said they don’t want to get stuck with huge financial contributions to pay for new lights, sidewalks, signage and reconfigured traffic lanes.

It appeared the city could pay for as much as 80 percent

of the streetscape cost, leaving an assessment of 20 percent for the property owners.

Davis started the open mic night by describing his experience watching the revival of downtown Tacoma, Wash.

Tammy Ramirez, coowner of the building at 939 Broadway, cited a list of needs for downtown: more parking close to stores, more police presence, better lighting, financial help for building owners to improve the facades of the structures.

More important is improving the neighborhoods around central Lorain, Ramirez said. She suggested involving the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority, which has a substantial annual budget.

“Downtown will do just fine when we fix the surrounding area,” Ramirez said.

Her husband, Jose Ramirez, also was among the speakers. He and downtown property owners Jeremy

Rak and Brian Bartlebaugh questioned the need for the streetscape.

Some people in the group said they supported the streetscape project – but not the cost. Technically those are two different issues, Davis said.

“I guess I’m for it if I don’t have to pay for it,” said Rak, who owns the Historic Lorain Post Office. But the streetscape alone is no guarantee to increase traffic downtown, and some people in the group agreed.

John Gargasz, who wants to invest in downtown, also suggested seeking out federal help for border cities, a method that sparked success in Tucson, Ariz. On the shore of Lake Erie, Lorain technically is a border city of the United States, he said.

The streetscape financial cost would become a burden for the Lorain Palace Theater, said Kevin Riley, a member of the theater’s board of directors.

The speakers included Council members Dennis Flores and Mary Springowski, who were the only elected officials or city staffers to attend.

Flores said he is optimistic to continue discussions, but he chided the city administration for restructuring the former Community Development Department with no eye to marketing Lorain or making loans to businesses.

Springowski said Lorain’s biggest problem is lack of enforcement, with no consequences for landlords who don’t pay taxes and let their buildings fall apart.

Additional speakers included Toye Gary; downtown merchant Mary Zelek; and Antonio Barrios of the Lorain Arts Council.

“We need to do something,” Barrios said. “It’s ridiculous to think we don’t need to do something, because people aren’t going to come down.”