The Downfall of West Erie Avenue

West Erie Avenue is the portion of Route 6 that runs from the Black River in Lorain all the way to the edge of Vermilion. Once a booming route into "Vacationland", the days of lakeside motels, drive-in movie theaters, skating rinks and family dining are fading. In a recent move, the city condemned the four remaining motels located on Route 6, west of the city. This was voted on due to health and safety concerns by the city and will be demolished very shortly, wiping a major part of Lorain history off the map for good.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand this move will make the area around the motels a safer place. These motels have served as drug dens and permanent homes for a number of years, bringing in all sorts of violence, drugs, and other crime. Gone are the days when families stayed at these motels on their way to Cedar Point, possibly catching a movie at the drive-in before bed.

Here are a few pictures I took today of the motels, along with some of the other commercial remnants of a simpler time.

The Erieview Motel

The Erieview Motel.

Office in the front and rooms in the back.

This is a postcard from the 70's by the look of it. It certainly has changed, including the name.

The Parkview Motel

Those vans and trailers are there to clean up the remainder of the items left in the rooms I presume.

The motel used to be called Grandview. Once again, look at the change. Postcard from the 50's

The Shoreway Motel

Probably one of the better maintained of the remaining motels.

Postcard from the motel's heyday. Notice that there was no second floor. Postcard possibly from the 60's/

The Lake Motel

The Lake Motel is located next to the Shoreway Motel.

I imagine that there was fierce competition between the neighboring motels at the time. Postcard from the 50's

The true downfall of all of these motels was the installation of State Route 2 in the 1960's. This speedy bypass pretty much killed off through traffic on Route 6 as it was a faster, more direct way to get east or west.

Phone book Advertising for all of the motels in Lorain in 1963. Most of them had different names at the time.

There were also a few other businesses that went belly up do to the times. Although a few restaurants still exist on West Erie and the skating rink is still there, most of these also fell victim to the Route 2 bypass and the technology era.

The Castle

"The Castle". This restaurant has changed hands so many times it is hard to keep track, but it still operates toady as a Mexican restaurant.

Postcard from and unknown year. I like the Ivy on the side of the building.

Lorain Arena and Skate World

The Lorain Arena was the replacement to the Lorain Colosseum, which burned down in the 50's. This was a roller skating rink that went under when outperformed by the newer Skate World which is still open today just west of the under grade.

The Lorain Arena was the large building in the back.

Lorain Journal advertising from the opening in 1955.

Skate World. One of the few businesses still open on West Erie today.

I saw this being painted last Summer. The building definitely needed something.

The Lorain Drive-In Theatre

My mom told me that her and her friends would sit on the hill by the drive-in to watch the movies for free. If you had a portable radio you could pick up the frequency and even listen too! There was once three drive-in movie theaters in Lorain County and believe it or not, one of them still remains and is actually increasing profits as of late. The Aut-O-Rama Drive-In in North Ridgeville is still going strong due to a resurgence in popularity of these types of theaters in the United States. You can check out their website here. We always try to make it there a few times a year. Unfortunately the Tower Drive-In in Elyria and the Lorain Drive-In didn't make it to a time where they could also have a website. The Lorain Drive-In was opened in 1946 and closed in the mid 80's.

The entrance. Now a storage facility and Uhaul rental.

The table area and blue fence still remain from the theater era. The sign was still there too up until a few years ago.

An aerial view of the drive-in.. Not sure what year, but you can see the Parkview Motel at the top right corner. (Lorain Historical Society)

Current view from Google Maps. You can see how much the area has developed.

From the opening in 1946. (Cinema Treasures)

It is always sad to see history taken away, but then again how are we to move forward with new history (good or bad) without making some room. Besides, there will always be memories, pictures, and hints of the past all around us....

Thanks for reading!