City officials clarify Victory Park plans

The corner of West Erie Avenue and West Fifth Street, commonly called Victory Park, is up for sale but not to the highest bidder, according to Lorain Safety-Service Director Dan Given.

While the two plots of land on the corner next to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Louis Paul Proy Chapter 20, 1319 W. Erie Ave., will be bid out for sale, Given said the city only will accept an offer from the adjoining post.

This was the plan all along, as the city only began to consider the property when the group showed interest.

Ray Kershaw, adjutant and treasurer of Proy Chapter 20, said the saga began years ago when the group bought the property from the city.

“We were interested in the

The intent of this whole plan was to honor the city’s veterans by giving them ownership of the park, Given said.

property because we wanted to have some green space next to us, keep the corner all veteran-oriented if we could,” Kershaw said.

The topic of acquiring the land was on the back burner throughout several mayoral administrations due to issues with how the park was deeded to the city, he said.

In the meantime, the land has been cared for by veterans and civil service groups from around the city.

“It’s always been a group effort to try and keep that property up and looking sharp,” Kershaw said. “I mean, we’re on the entrance to the city itself.”

Recently, Kershaw, at one of the post meetings, he said he brought up the idea of purchasing the park, which at the time was not on a list of properties being sold by the city.

The decision was made to have Kershaw begin talking with the city about a path to purchasing the land.

Kershaw said the large “V” memorial and the Victory statue, which depicts the Greek goddess Nike bearing a sword and a palm frond, were not part of any deals to be made on the land and that the “V” will stay where it’s at no matter what.

“We did not want to buy the property with the (Victory statue) on it, because it’s city property and a memorial to World War I vets,” he said.

There have been talks about moving the Victory statue possibly to Lakeview Park, but a firm consensus has yet to be reached between the city and the Lorain County Metro Parks, which currently holds a lease on the park, Given said.

Kershaw discussed the desired acquisition with Given and eventually with Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer until a plan was made.

“The city’s position is that we own hundreds of parcels all over that we’ve acquired over time,” Given said. “Why are we sitting on these things, maintaining them, cleaning up junk when we can actually make it productive?

“Or in this case, work with a veterans group with, what I consider, a veteran corner.”

At that time, Ritenauer expressed concerns about the veterans group, so Phil Dore, deputy safety-service director and Ritenauer’s chief of staff, was tasked with reaching out to all of the veterans groups in town to see that all were on board with the DAV taking ownership.

“The mayor said ‘hey, I don’t want a nasty storm over this whole issue. If it’s good for the community, it’s good for the community,’” Given said.

Dore said the groups were on board with the plan.

He said the city also went out of its way to ensure the property had no historical significance for WWI and found none.

“It just so happened, that whoever funded the statue, put it there,” Dore said.

With all sides apparently happy with the deal, Given said the question became how the city would go about transferring the land to the group.

“To do it the correct way, the right way, is to get City Council approval,” he said. “We have to pass legislation, then we have to advertise for bid; the whole public persona on it.

“We could have done it another way, which is basically sit down, transfer (the land) to the Lorain Port Authority and the Port Authority doesn’t have the same rules as we do. Boom, boom, boom, it’s done. It’s off the board and no one knows about it.”

Given said the administration chose to do it the “correct way.”

“This was never going to the highest bidder,” he said. “It was the intent to go down the right path.”

City Council approved the plan to place the property up for bids at the Nov. 5 meeting after an executive session in which Given said Council members were briefed on the plan to only sell it to the Proy Chapter 20, but the public was not.

Given said none of this background information was included in the City Council’s usual legislation packet for the meeting.

“There was no summary report that said here is our entire story on how to do it, because technically, you aren’t supposed to do it that way,” he said.

The intent of this whole plan was to honor the city’s veterans by giving them ownership of the park, Given said.

“The plan isn’t to go in and disrupt the entire community and move monuments,” he said. “But when we have veterans groups that their sole purpose is to honor the people who lead us in war with their bravery, it’s our obligation to listen to them.”

Steve Smith, former Lorain County Veteran of the Year and a member of the DAV, said these moves will ensure that the park and what it has come to stand for will survive.

“We’re just trying to protect those things that we know we have to protect with the present trend,” Smith said.

The community is invited to take part in the DAV’s protection of the past by attending the chapter’s Memorial Celebration on Nov. 11.

At 11 a.m., the group will convene at Black River Landing, 421 Black River Lane, and at 11 p.m., they will meet at the “V” at Victory Park.

“We’d love to see the community do an outpouring of participation,” Smith said.