The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Shipyards Event Center taking shape
There is a new gathering space developing near downtown Lorain and the Black River.
There is a new gathering space developing near downtown Lorain and the Black River.
The Shipyards Event Center, 485 California Ave., is located where generations of Lorainites made the freighters that plied the Great Lakes.
Soon it will be a place for people to make new memories, according to the developers.
The brick building and the water tower are the last two remaining structures from the days when AMSHIP, the American Ship Building Co., was located on the east side of the Black River, said Jennifer Kopf, events and marketing manager for the Shipyards.
The 25,000-square-foot building was a warehouse for the patterns workers used to build parts of the ships, Kopf said.
In its original form, a train was able to run through the building; its interior second floor is a later addition.
It was March 2017 when Lorain attorney Anthony Giardini went to the Lorain Planning Commission to explain how he and a partner hoped to redevelop the building.
Formerly, it served as the seasonal Wheelhouse Restaurant of the Westlake Yacht Club, among other things.
Since then, work has begun to convert it into the new Shipyards.
Along with construction crews, Kopf has signed on with General Manager Patrick Bluso and Chef Scott Bennett.
The Shipyards will include the Boiler Room restaurant and Superior City, a craft cocktail lounge named for the first steel ship launched from Lorain in 1898.
The building also will have a bridal suite and retail space on the first floor.
A new elevator was built inside and eventually stairs will replace the ramp used for taking construction equipment to the upper floor.
There will be capacity for 500 people, with a caboose bar modeled after the last car of a train.
Outside there will be a patio. Parking mostly will be on the south side of the building. To the north, four guest docks will be available.
So far, the Shipyards has had limited exposure but that will change soon because staff are ready to book events starting in December, Kopf said.
For the last two years, the Lorain Historical Society has held its History on the Rocks fundraiser inside the space, said Barb Piscopo, society executive director.
History on the Rocks was
“fabulous,” Piscopo said.
Apart from being a unique venue, the developers have a common trait with the Historical Society, which restored Lorain’s former Carnegie Library to become the Carnegie Center museum and archive.
“The fact that they’re utilizing an old building is a really, really great thing,” Piscopo said.
In some ways, the renovation is a larger job than the Lorain Historical Society project.
At the former Carnegie Library, 329 W. 10th St., the interior features generally were intact and in some cases were nearly pristine, Piscopo said.
There were some additions to create the museum displays with information about Lorain historical artifacts, but the layout did not need dramatic changes, she said.
“I congratulate them for repurposing an old, seemingly sound structure and turning that into an event center that will add to the value of Lorain,” Piscopo said about the Shipyards. “It certainly will expand opportunities for economic development.”
The Shipyards has something not every venue has — a unique view from the second floor.
Looking out, visitors will see the ship-building channel and the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge.
It’s a perspective that prompted unanimous agreement.
“The view is amazing,” Kopf said. “You feel like you’re in a different place; it’s really beautiful down here.”
“It’s a great venue,” said Nicole LeGalley, advancement and philanthropy employee for the Lorain Historical Society.
LeGalley also was a coplanner for History on the Rocks this year.
“It has fantastic views,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing it when it’s all finished.”
“The view is spectacular,” Piscopo said. “It’s stunning. It’s just absolutely stunning.
“I think people will be just amazed at how beautiful Lorain can be.”