Open House October '05 Pictures of the Central Hotel Project

Did you ever think this day would come? Linda and Pauline never gave up. Here they share the honor of "cutting the ribbon." They represent so many that did a lot of work to get this day to happen. The local people tried to stress this in the remarks preceeding the the above ceremonal opening of the Central Hotel Apartments. One of Linda's comments was "The Square just wouldn't have been square without the hotel."

Dennis Little
Galion City Council Pres. Project Architect Mike Asebrook and Pauline Eaton, Director of MainStreet Ohio and Galion City Council member Linda Chambers, Director of MainStreet Galion

Ken Kempton
LEADS Community Action Agency Matt Bickert,
United Bank, Galion Branch Ryan Landi,
Ohio Capital Corp. for Housing Jack Shrode,
Builder, KG&R Development Ida Laughbaum,
New Resident of the building

Part of the group present for the Open House in the Lobby before they left for tours of selected apartments. Refreshments in the new Community Room were part of the event.

Catered by Cake Creations By Diane, 3 Public Square

The party was billed as an English Tea and was catered by Creative Cakes By Diane, 3 Public Square. A picture of the cake before it was too late. The cake and the other delicacies were as
good as they looked.

Top and Bottom: Join in with Linda Chambers as she leads this tour.

Ida Laughbaum has been a resident for 6 weeks and said she had been waiting for 2 years for the apartments to be ready. Her's and Rosemary's, below, weren't supposed to be part of the apartments that were open, but they graciously allowed us a view of the their new homes. Ida loves the building and the location. She spent years out of town and now feels she is back in the middle of things.

Rosemary Bartholomew was the first on the waiting list and got the first pick. She chose the area that was formerly the famous Room 201, the one at the top corner, out front. She was able to bring along many of her antiques which fit in quite nicely in this historical old building. We spied her Galion Historic Places Throw and asked her to pose with it. The Mansfield News Journal's Photographer was there and it made their Sunday paper.

The visual depiction of the available apartments are indicated by the colored stick pins. Want to be the first one to live in a brand new apartment? Our State Representative Steve Rinehard dropped by and is talking with Architect Mike Asebrook. Steve has followed this project all along.

An early morning picture taken late this summer and THANKFULLY the South West corner of the Square still looks like it has for the last 100 years. Had Jack Shrode not come in and immediatly started shoring up floors and walls this corner of the Square would now be a parking lot. It wouldn't have made it past that first winter's spring thaw. But, we still have it and it remains one of our key community icons.. the Square, the Hotel building, the Galion Theatre and the Big Four Train Station.

This editorial appeared in the Mansfield News Journal shortly after the open house....

Editorial

Down town Galion revitalized

The issue:
Central Hotel Apartments opened Friday,
offering housing for senior citizens.

Our opinion:
Hotel's reopening is a sign of progress for Galion.

For a community that's had more than its share of problems in recent years, Galion has again demonstrated a knack for overcoming odds and getting big things done.
The most recent example came Friday when the Central Hotel Apartments opened on the downtown square, offering affordable and
quality housing for senior citizens on the site of the former Central Hotel.
The site has 30 one-, two- or three-bedroom units with amenities such as free cable TV, air conditioning, laundry facilities, appliances, carpet, parking, a security system and a community room. The apartments are also handicap accessible.
It was the realization of the long-time dreams of many public and private residents in the Crawford County city. The old hotel- most recently the Heritage Inn restaurant -had sat vacant for years and was in danger of being demolished, despite local efforts to restore and redevelop the site.
While many communities talk about revitalizing their downtowns, Galion residents found a way to get it done. The old Central Hotel was once a prime part of the city's downtown, and finding a way to save it was essential for the community's psyche.
Discussions on what to do with the historic old building began in 1993. It was in 2002 that the pieces finally came together in a plan to turn the dilapidated structure into an apartment complex. Developers received approval of $3.1 million in loans that enabled them to finally move forward. Still, a planned 10-month construction timetable stretched to more than two years. But no one gave up on the plan.
The hotel was gutted from the outside walls in. Floors, walls, plumbing, ceilings and fixtures were ripped out as contractors started from scratch. But they were careful to include many of the architectural elements of the old hotel in the new apartment complex, meaning the history: and meaning of the Central Hotel will remain.
Certainly, Galion has experienced its own share of problems, many of which we have documented and discussed. But the grand opening of this wonderful new/old site is a positive sign that progress is still happening despite those issues.

Well... It looks like this collection of pictures showing the rebuilding of our Central Hotel has to finally come to an end. GalionGuy.com thanks all the construction personel for their cooperation and help to record these pictures over the last 22 months. There have been so many guys -and gals, too, but particularly the help of KG&R's Construction Superintendent Sonny Dull needs a special thanks.