preservationrestoration

I'm so glad that I didn't go to school on a quarter system. We started usually after Labor Day and finished up the Winter Term the end of April. I had all of May, June, July and most of August for work and fun.

^^^ The church I go to is right next to all these greek houses. I had to think for a second where those apartments are....that is until I recognzied Zas. What's going up in their place?

Middletown's new elementary schools are being built in the same manner. There are two choices: single floor plan and two story floor plan. The only difference in exteriors on the buildings are brick color and main entrances. Interior finishes and colors may vary by building, but the general idea is that the buildings are all the same, with the same ammenities so all the children have an equal learning environment. The only elementary buildings that don't fit into this pattern are the renovated Amanda Elementary and what will be the new Central Non-Graded Academy in the old Rosedale building. The first two buildings are single story. The remaining four are two story:

From the photos, this doesn't look very urban.

Middletown High School Fight Song http://www.middiemusic.com/media/music/mmb/fightsong.mp3 Go Middletown Go Hit them high and low Fight Middletown Fight Fight with all your might Fight Fight Fight Fight all down the field Fight and never yield Fight ye loyal men and true Go Middletown Go. Middletown Alma Mater http://www.middiemusic.com/media/music/mmb/almamater.mp3 Alma Mater, we love thee Dear old Middletown Alma Mater, we praise thee For thy great renown. On field and in classroom We sing thy great praise Alma Mater, our high school To thee we will be true. Eastern Michigan University Fight Song Pre-PC era Hurons, Hurons Hats off to you. Fight, fight, fight for old EMU Shout to the sky The Huron War Cry The bravest will defy Rah Rah Rah Hold that line for old green and while Loyal sons come show your might And fight, fight for old EMU and Victory. Politically correct version now used Eastern Eagles hats off to you Fight, fight, fight for old E.M.U. Look to the sky, the Eagles will fly The bravest will defy Rah, Rah, Rah Hold that line for ole Green and White. Sons and daughters show your might. So, FIGHT, FIGHT! for ole EMU and vic-tor-y! Another fight song that I prefer because it doesn't mention that damn bird: Go Green Go Green, roll up the score. Go Green, let's get some more. Raise a cheer for old Green and White. Let's show them we came here to fight. Go Green, vic'try we'll claim. Go Green, let's win this game. We'll always fight for old EMU. Come on and let's go Green! And their Alma Mater: Eastern, sacred Alma Mater to your name we shall be true. Ever marching on to victory, we'll stand by to see you through, Softly floating on the breeze, verdant green with white of snow, This our banner we will carry in our hearts whe'er we go

Reminds me of ole MHS -- now Vail Middle School in Middletown--neighborhood and all. although this neighborhood has been better maintained, while Vail looks to be better cared for than this school. I love old schools. They sure don't make them like they use to. Today, most high schools look like big old brick barns. And I hate that Steed Hammond Paul gets most of the school designs in SW Ohio because all the buildings end up looking the same.

Didn't I read somewhere that the were renovating the old opera house as a performing arts center? I'm not a huge fan of the Brighton/Howell area--home to the Michigan KKK. I have an Indian friend that was verbally assulted there. It amazes me that there are people who live in this area that make the trek into Detroit every day for work. It is a good 40 miles, at least.

I've never been to Adrian, but I have a friend from college who is from there. He says its a sh*t hole, but I think it has some character to it. Thanks for the pics.

I go to church in this area (didn't see any pics of it though--beautiful structure). I sometimes prefer this area to the usual Main Street and Liberty/State areas, even though the South U district has suffered in recent years. Sadako is great for sushi and China Gate has some of the best Chinese food I've ever eaten. Village Corner is also the nicest little convenience store I've been to with a great wine and beer selection. The South U. area, when I was a student at EMU, was home to Tower Records that was pretty much open 24 hours and my friend and I used to make late night trips from Ypsi to listen to great music and browse tapes (yes tapes) and CDs.

Oakland County is one big cluster f*&@!

Eh, Milton's Donuts in Middletown are better.

LOL...that makes sense, although I think there will be more retail along the "road" than what you are showing. Not bad! My dad said if all goes planned, work could begin in March, with a completion by Christmas 2008, the same time the upscale flea market in Monroe is scheduled to open ;-P

My dad watch the meeting and provided me with a little more insight about the project. From what my dad understands, they are looking for a 10 year tax-abatement. I am assuming this is a property tax abatement. The area that currently houses the food court will be demolished with new buildings being built on both sides with a road and on-street parking through the middle heading towards the center of the development (where the fountain used to be). The road will continue and veer either to the left or right (he didn't offer specifics) but will eventually tie into the Meijer store. Sear's new entrance will be at an angle. Most of the Dillard and E-B wings will remain, but the roof will be removed. He said it seems the shell of the retail buildings will remain with new storefronts being built. These areas will be all pedestrian. The "jewelry store" corner may be gone. There will be a children's play area. Also several outlots will be created for restaurants. I was hoping for more of a mixed used development. This looks more like a glorified shopping center. I understand that because it is a redevelopment and the anchors wish to remain, it makes things a little more difficult. But I hate lifestyle centers where all the buildings are single story. I still belive they are going to have a hard time sticking to the $26 million budget. I can't wait to see more of the plans though. It will be very interesting to see what council does. I do like the new Dillards storefront though :) Open air centers may be a fad, but retail in itself is a fad.

I thought the $20 million figured seemed low. But remember, BridgeWater constructed two new department stores--J.C. Penny and Target, while Towne Mall already has three department stores that will remain. It's my understanding that E-B, Dillards and Sears own their sites, so any improvements to their buildings must be made by those companies. Anyone know the construction figure of Streets of West Chester? Here's an aerial shot of the site.

Here it is . . . Towne Mall proposes $20M transformation into open-air retail center Owners to seek financial assistance By Dave Greber Thursday, January 11, 2007 MIDDLETOWN — Towne Mall owners are seeking financial assistance in a proposed $20 million makeover that will turn the mall into an open-air retail center. Middletown officials have been working with mall owners CBL and Associates Properties Inc. since 2002, and Incentis Group, a national site section and consultant company, for more than a year on a proposed redevelopment plan for the mall, said Bill Murphy, the city's economic development director.

Correction. Middletown had three Catholic parishes: Holy Trinity, St. Johns and St. Marys. All three merged to become Holy Family Parish. St. Marys was a newer parish, established in the 1950s. It was located as part of the old John 23rd elementary school complex on Central that was recently demolished to make way for the new Senior Citizens Center. My guess is that St. Mary's was established to serve second generation non-ethnic Catholics living in the east end of town. It was the smaller of the three parishes, and hence why its building was discontinued.

I'm guessing that the Methodist sanctuary (as well as the old Presbyterian sanctuary based off pictures I've seen) were designed more as auditoriums. I DO wish the old Beth. structure still existed. I got the same impression you did from the old lady. Not happy the structure was gone. I've often thought it resembled Zion. The older Baptist and St. John's churches both had center steeples. The trend in Middletown however, was towards bell towers. Here is a pic of the new Baptist church as well

Thanks Ink for doing the thread that I always wanted to do :) I love First Methodist, although I hate the fact that the santuary doesn't have a center aisle. It is probably my favorite with the old First Baptist a close second. During the home tour, I asked why the decision was made to built a new structure at Beth. Lutheran in the 1950s. The answer I got was the flood of 1913 did more damage than originally recognized. Honestly, that's one structure I'm sorry to see gone. At least some of the original stained glass windows were saved and used in the parlor. Congregations moved eastward for different reasons. Calvary Methodist (now known as Christ Methodist--their historic structure is gone), moved east because they were one of three Methodist congregations downtown, and there weren't any on the east end. First Baptist moved because they were a going congregation with no room to expand in their old location. There wasn't enough parking either. I mean, they could have torn down historic homes to expand, but I don't think any of us would have wanted that :) I am glad that the structure is still around and that the sanctuary wasn't destroyed in the fire. The name of the organization in there now is called "Rachel's Place". They had a really bad picture of the inside on their web site. Glad to see the organ is still there, but I wonder if it is functioning at all. Needs some work, but not as bad as I thought. According to their website: Rachel’s Place will offer free weekly training classes to the surrounding community—designed to emotionally, spiritually, and physically support and encourage individuals and families. The building will also house a home school resource center. The Rachel’s Place Chapel will be open daily for meditation and will be available to the community for weddings and special services. Rachel’s Kitchen will serve the staff and will offer warm meals to the homeless and less fortunate. “The Rock House”, located in the basement of Rachel’s Place, will be a safe, drug-free teen nightclub with live music, cappuccino bar, video games, pool tables, etc., and will open one or more nights a week. Rachel’s Place will house a full production video/audio studio and sound stage for training interns in television, video, and audio production as well as dance, drama, and other performing arts and multimedia applications. These facilities will also be available for qualified community projects. Front Yard Grey stone / wrought iron wall along the front yard, with two gates: one for the main sidewalk and one for the meditation garden—meandering brick paths, surrounding a large fountain in the center. Bushes and landscaping; benches for reading and meditation. Front portico of the church will also have wrought iron tables and padded chairs. First Floor Prayer/wedding chapel, open daily for meditation and special services Administration/secretarial office Soundstage Dressing rooms Recording studio Video studio Home school resource center Second Floor John Phillips’ office Debbie Phillips’ office Director’s office Cafeteria area Newsletter, e-mail, computer room Satellite offices for partnering organizations: Theotherapy, American Destiny, First Priority, Summit, etc. Third Floor Board room Classrooms Break area Library Basement Soup kitchen/cafeteria I'll assume this is the same reason why First Presbyterian moved out of downtown. The new structure is beautiful. The inside is more impressive than the outside: I would not surprise me if the Holy Family Parish closes one of the downtown churches and builds a new east-end location. I think the Catholics will always have a presence downtown, but I think they are probably starting to question why the need for two churches. Holy Trinity was the Irish congregation while St. John's was the German congregation. Today, there is less cultural division, so the need for two separate churches didn't exist. Hence, why they merged into a single parish. The old UB/Faith Methodist went through a remodeling in the 70s and the interior lost much of its charm. Somehow the sanctuary was reversed and a new stained glass window in the front (old back) was installed. It is back-lite as it is not a natural window, from what the description says. I believe the old large stained glass that had once been in the front is no longer visible from the inside. Here's a shot of the interior of the Ascension church from their website:

Thanks for the info; I'll have to have my dad tape it.

Those are very good points. My brother and I stopped at Bridgewater Falls on our way home from Kenwood. He wanted to go to Best Buy. He was pretty impressed with the complex. It looks as if it is starting to fill up. They have an advantage over the Streets of W.C. in that they have two big anchor stores--J.C. Penny and Target. I think part of Streets of West Chester's problem is that at the time it was proposed and being built, there were like two other open air proposals for Union Centre as well (remember Jackson, Michigan-based Jacobson's department store was supposed to built at one before they went out of business). And then along came Voice of America Center. I personally think the layout of SofWC is poor, and really, there is nothing there other than a few good restaurants and a bookstore. But from a retail standpoint, not much of a draw. Plus no department stores and not much other retail on that side of the Union Centre. I'm really surprised that no offiical statement has been made about this project in the papers seeing how so many stores are closing and teh employees are telling customers what's going on.

The land was originally part of Franklin Township before Middletown annexed it in the early to mid 1990s, hence the Franklin address. Interestingly enough, they all have Middletown telephone exchanges and the land has long been part of the Middletown School District. City officials have tried several times to get the post office to change the city designation, with no avail.

The one article from the Middletown Journal on this subject appeared in September. You can read it in the following thead: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6960.0

The old Oakland Presbyterian Church in Middletown (on the outskirts of downtown) built in the late 1890s has been converted into apartments:

I had to run out to the Hallmark store yesterday. They are having a going out of business sale. I asked if they were closing, and she said the whole mall is closing. I asked when they were done, and she didn't know, but said the mall is coming down in the spring to make way for a lifestyle center. Waldenbooks is going out of business, and Things Remembered has already closed. The Footlocker has been come an "outlet" store for the time being.

Wow, time passes - I'd forgotten these stores ever even existed! :? LOL I was thinking the same thing. I used to buy Z Cavaricci's at Chess King when I was in Junior High in Florida, embarrassing I know. Don't get me started in the red 12 zipper Michael Jackson jacket from 1983. God the 80's sucked. LOL The clothes at Chess King seemed so urban to me growing up. I don't think I shoped there. I still remembered when The Gap closed their store. It was a great store, because the Dayton store used to send all the stuff they couldn't sell down to Middletown at a big discount. Here are comments from a Middletown offiical on the status of the Towne Mall: "BTW - interesting discussion regarding Towne Mall - we are attempting to work the the owners on a more sustainable concept."