Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » Holy Toledo! « Previous Next »
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Fareastsider
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Post Number: 546
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 1:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How about Toledo Ohio...yes I know it is in Ohio of all places but it is still in the "Detroit Sphere of Influence" How about some info, maps, stories, pics of Toledo. After all of all the satellite cities such as A2, Flint and Pontiac Toledo would be the biggest of them.
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Oakmangirl
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Username: Oakmangirl

Post Number: 83
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 1:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was exiled there for a while. Check out their amazing local history collection online. They're like us on a smaller scale, yet there seems to be a larger concern for preservation.

I lived in this beautiful neighborhood:

http://www.oldwestendtoledo.co m/

Amazing historical collection online (why not Burton?)

http://www.toledolibrary.org/c ollection/images.asp
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Jjaba
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Post Number: 5511
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 1:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Toledo Mud Hens, AAA, for Detroit Tigers. 60 mile drive to Comerica Park and you've got fresh players. Mud Hens have a nice new stadium downtown Toledo. There have been yrs. when Mud Hens have actually beaten the parent Tigers.

Toledo is a port on Lake Erie. Willys/Jeep/Overland is an old name there.
Libby-Owens-Ford glass works is there.
Toledo is a troubled urban rust bowl place.

Being in Ohio by compromise for Michigan getting more land, it is hardly in Detroit's metroplex.
Toledo has its own identity.

jjaba.
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Mackinaw
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Post Number: 3609
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah I don't think very many think of it as being in Detroit's sphere. Do we really want to claim anything that's in Ohio, anyway?

I do have to travel to downtown Toledo later this week. We'll see how it looks, although I've heard it has a lot of significant blight still, and they've followed in Detroit's footsteps by building a stadium.
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Johnlodge
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Post Number: 1929
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Fifth Third Field is a fantastic little ballpark. Not a bad seat in the house, and it has definitely perked up the area of Toledo immediately surrounding it. A great place to see some quality baseball, if you find you can only get SRO at Comerica Park and are really jonesing for some ball.
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Jjaba
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Post Number: 5513
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There are some lovely neighborhoods there, some in turmoil between white ethnics and the visible minorities. Change comes painfully as we know.

jjaba.
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 84
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:07 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Many Michiganians work there and them here. It's definitely not a suburb, but I do commend their library for giving a damn. It's ridiculous that Burton and other special collections at DPL fall apart when they could be preserving through digital efforts.
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 85
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Johnlodge,

You can actually watch the game from the street which is cool.
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Mackinaw
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Post Number: 3612
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'd rather stand at Comerica Park, thank you very much.
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 86
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:23 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I'd rather not stand at any stadium or arena named after a corporation, thank you very much.
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Texorama
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Post Number: 38
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It's my hometown, and an interesting if rather sleepy place. Its era of influence was a generation before Detroit's, for glass and other construction materials were (and are) its biggest industries, although the auto industry certainly has a big presence. The Old West End is one of the great residential neighborhoods in the Midwest, and institutions that got started during the period when it was built (1900-1920), like the art museum, zoo, and parks system, are exceptional for a city Toledo's size. Urban "renewal" really did a job on the center, cutting the old residential neighborhoods off from downtown with housing projects. But lately there have been signs of life, including the little stadium. To bring this together with another recent thread, I remember watching Sonny Elliot on TV when I was little, and Bozo the Clown on Channel 9, too--and we certainly listened to CKLW. But we looked toward Detroit occasionally rather than frequently. German Catholics are a big ethnic group in the city itself--not one that's so prominent in Detroit. Politically it is still a rock-ribbed Democratic union town.
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Mackcreative
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Post Number: 84
Registered: 08-2006
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Toledo Museum of Art is definitely worth a visit, it's free for goodness sake! The new Glass Pavilion across Monroe is incredible and worth the drive alone. Behind that is a really nice old city neighborhood--Old West End, beautiful homes on the streets that end in "wood."

Tucked in there is Mansion View, an excellent Bed 'n' Breakfast where Mr. mackcreative stays when working at the museum.

The mackcreative family happened to be at a Mudhens game last night for $8 each in the 5th row. We parked for $2-three blocks away; no traffic leaving, no lines in the bathroom, plus Toft's ice cream!
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Mackcreative
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Post Number: 85
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Texorama, we must have been typing at the same time.

I second the zoo, excellent public works era buildings, great (Belle Isle kidspace-type) park behind back entrance on the Maumee.

Very kid-friendly easy city experience, sorta Detroit-lite.
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 87
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 2:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Their Art Museum, I dare say, is better than the DIA has been in years. They may not have the depth we do in certain areas, but they have a great overview, good Impressionism collection, and it's not overwhelming. I love their local art exhibit they have every summer, and the rejected artists even hold their own Salon des Refusés. Very fun to see.
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Mackinaw
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Post Number: 3615
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 3:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Uh, maybe because the majority of the DIA has been closed recently. Come 11/1/07, it's one of the best collections the world.
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Jazzstage
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Post Number: 63
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 3:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

What I like about Toledo is that it has a few Jazz clubs that are much more diverse that Detroit. Like Chicago, all colors mingle to enjoy the music. It was also the home of Jon Hendricks and Art Tatum. The jazz clubs in Toledo are certainly part of Detroit from many musicians perspectives.

Rusty's was a club that is no longer. The story I heard was that Rusty Monroe had an affair with Bob Hope and that Bob had given her enough money to open up a jazz club. Jimg, you reading this?
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Mackcreative
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Post Number: 86
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 3:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Every art museum has its own specialties...

Toledo has one of the very best glass collections in the world--rivaled in the U.S. only by the Corning Museum of Glass and Tacoma Glass Museum.

It's possible to love them both.
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Vetalalumni
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Post Number: 552
Registered: 05-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Toledo on Wiki. I knew famous singer Anita Baker was born there before growing up in the Motor, but some of the other names and facts were a surprise.
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Neilr
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Post Number: 562
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 4:06 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Several weeks ago, a friend and I went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Toledo Art Museum. The show, by itself, was well worth the drive. We also wanted to see the new Glass Pavilion across the street. It was spectacular! It is so elegant, both from the outside looking in and the from the inside looking out!


Glass Pavillion

http://www.toledomuseum.org/

There was a light rain that morning and a docent stood at the front door of the main building handing out umbrellas so we could walk the 100 yards or so to the Glass Pavilion w/o getting wet. That was a nice touch, I thought.

Our only mistake was not having researched a good spot for lunch. I asked a docent for a recommendation; but he gave us a bum steer. I ought to have known better than to ask anyone wearing a really bad tie for a restaurant recommendation. Oh well, lesson learned.

(Message edited by Neilr on August 18, 2007)
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 88
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 4:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Jazzstage,

I know Rusty; never heard that story!

As for art, yes the DIA is great but they don't take risks; I see it as very fusty. Toledo, on the other hand, had the chutzpah to buy and proudly install a Parisian Metro entrance designed by Guimard. What have you seen that's new and exciting outside the DIA over the last 15 years besides a building implosion?
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Bob_cosgrove
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Post Number: 566
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 10:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Contrary to popular opinion, Michigan won the Toledo War of 1830! - Ohio had to take Toledo!

Before you guys and gals jump down my throat about insulting what was the Glass Capital of the World, I spent my first 24 years growing up in Toledo and graduating from The University of Toledo, and I'm just joking.

Toledo has a great deal of wonderful culture - the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Zoo, wondeful neighborhoods and good schools.

Actually, Michigan did win the Toledo War - we got the Upper Peninsula with its mineral riches in exchange for giving up our claim on Toledo.

Bob Cosgrove
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Ventura67
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Post Number: 154
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 10:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I would trade the U.P. for Toledo any century! Toledo is a decent town but compares in no way, shape or form to our beautiful Upper Peninsula!

Nice zoo, nice art museum. I go to Toledo's versions more often than Detroit's. I'd rather be in the U.P., though!
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Deteamster
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Post Number: 36
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 11:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We have a lot of guns and rowdies in Detroit. I say we liberate Toledo in a putsch.
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Mackinaw
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Post Number: 3618
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 11:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The UP is awesome. It balances our state out nicely. Natural wonders on one side, a soon-to-be-amazing city on the other. That formula works pretty well in New York.

The northern lower offers plenty of nature, but the UP is rugged with vast wilderness. A unique place.
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Detroitplanner
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Post Number: 1363
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 11:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I spent much of the afternoon checking out Toledo. Its been several months since I've been there and found that there are numerous houses for sale there as well.

I also checked out the Maumee Bay State Park. In some ways it puts Michigan State Parks to shame (a giant hotel/park lodge, guest cabins, a golf course....). On the other hand, it does not have the same rustic quality of someplace like Island Lake, Sterling, or Rifle River.
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Elsuperbob
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Post Number: 49
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Posted on Saturday, August 18, 2007 - 11:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Don't forget that in addition to the glass pavilion and the museum of art there is the University of Toledo Art School which was designed by Frank Gehry. It's right next to the museum.

Neilr, when we went down there to see the school and the glass pavilion we also had an impossible time finding lunch. We drove through downtown and across the river before ending up eating in the museum. They did have a pretty good portobello sandwich.

When my mom went down to visit her friend in Toledo last week she was told about Tony Packo's in downtown. Apparently that's a Toledo establishment popular for its fried pickles and chili.
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Elsuperbob
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Post Number: 50
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 12:18 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here's the Gehry Building









And a neat piece in the Glass Pavilion... I can't remember its name. Just looked neat all backlit and all and it's pretty big. There's a really cool chandelier in the pavilion, also.



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Rbdetsport
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Post Number: 374
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 12:41 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I actually do think that Toledo is in Detroit's "Sphere." After all, they do listen too our radio stations and they are only 60 miles away. Equivelant to say, Detroit to Grand Blanc.
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Rockcity2windycity
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Post Number: 219
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 12:55 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I've always heard Michigan got the name wolverines because we wanted Toledo as a part of Michigan and they said we were as mean and ferocious as wolverines.
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Bob_cosgrove
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Post Number: 567
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 4:56 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Unless they now have a downtown Toledo location, Tony Packs is on Toledo's Eastside (of the Maumee River) on Front Street a short distance north of the new I-280 Bridge.

Tony Packo's was made nationally famous by Jamie Farr's in his role as Klinger on "Mash," whose character was from Toledo and frequently mentioned this bar/restaurant.

Bob Cosgrove
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Texorama
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 8:20 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wonder if Jjaba would feel the same aversion to Toledo's east side as he does to Detroit's.

Tony Packo's did indeed open a branch near the new Mud Hens stadium downtown. If you want to see the restaurant beloved by Klinger, with hot dog buns signed by Bill Clinton, etc., you have to go the original one in East Toledo. Cross the river on Cherry Street (the low bridge, not the "high-level" bridge as it is called), and go north on Front for a while to Consaul.

Dining is indeed a major weak spot from the visitor's POV. I can't remember eating out more than half a dozen times for all the years I was growing up there--it just wasn't done. From the art museum, the best bet is probably to head down Monroe toward the stadium area. Downtown Latte is a nice independent place that has sandwiches and really awe-inspiring cappuccino.

http://www.downtownlatte.com/
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Elsuperbob
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Posted on Sunday, August 19, 2007 - 12:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My mistake... She was talking about the original. I didn't realize it was on the east side.

Somehow every time I'm in Toledo I end up in the same dead end on the east side. And always from different places. I can't remember the street name. Next time I go I'm sure I'll end up there and get the names. Maybe Toledo is the true center of the universe.
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Billk
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 2:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think Danny Thomas was from Toledo also.
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Texorama
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 2:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oh, you mean Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yaqoob? Born in Deerfield, curiously enough, but raised in Toledo and claimed as a native there.
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Mackcreative
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Post Number: 87
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 2:37 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dominic Labino made that glass piece. The Toledo Museum of Art's glass studio is an origin of the modern glass art movement, founded by Harvey Littleton and Dominic Labino--a glass scientist from Owens-Corning. His studio is still maintained near Grand Rapids, OH.

The Oliver House, now called Maumee Bay Brewing Company for eats; however last time we were there it was not up to par.
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Mackcreative
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Post Number: 88
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 2:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The chandelier is Dale Chihuly, made at Waterford Crystal.
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Elsuperbob
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 3:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Mack... How could I forget a name like Chihuly.

It's interesting how Toledo has the beautiful art museum, a Gehry building (Even if I don't care for Gehry he is an icon of contemporary architecture), and the new SANAA designed Glass Pavilion all right there in a city of only a few hundred thousand.
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Slider
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 3:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ah a topic I could talk endlessly on after living in Toledo for 28 years. Toledo truly is a smaller Detroit. It has gone through much of the same or similar fate as Detroit almost concurrently.

Detroit had the Ren Center that was supposed to 'fix' downtown was ulitmately a fortress on the river that just sucked more life from downtown into it's complex. Toledo had One Seagate, also located on the north end of downtown on the river.

Also strangely, it has a bridge similar in appearance to the Ambassador that crosses over the Maumee into East Toledo at about the same spot in relation to downtown. And where Detroit has the tunnel, near the Ren Cen, Toledo has the Cherry St. Bridge, near one Seagate. A drive down Summit Street in downtown Toledo is in many ways a smaller scale version of Jefferson in Detroit.

One of the only major differences between Detroit and Toledo is that Toledo was able to annex huge swaths of land up until the 1960's to help stabilize the tax base.

But, I have such a love/hate relationship with my hometown. Much as I do about Detroit. It has great people trying to do great things, but the battle is an uphill one often fighting intrenched politicos who lack any forsight. And in each city, it's residents are often times their own worst enemy. I've often said Toledoans love to complain how bad the city, and especially the downtown is, but when something positive happens, they say it won't succeed and then sit back and do their best to make sure it doesn't simply to say 'I told you it wouldn't work'

But enough negativism. Here are something that make Toledo a great metro area: The Toledo Museum of Art, The new Glass Pavillion, The Frank Gehry building at the TMA, the Old West End, University of Toledo's beautiful campus, the Toledo Zoo full of WPA era buildings, countless neighborhood and ethnic festivals in the the summer, excellent local restaurants, an exemplary metropark system, a slowly improving downtown, The Mud Hens stadium (I know I'll get attacked for this one, but I'd choose a game there over Comerica anyday), the emerging downtown nightlife scene and so much more.

Okay, stepping down off the soapbox
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Slider
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 3:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oakmangirl,

Where did you live in the OWE?
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Kronprinz
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Post Number: 565
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 3:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

http://www.gribblenation.net/o hio/roamin/main.htm

this is a sight wherein these young kids go around and give a review of Mass in each of the Churches in the Toledo Diocese. Kind of interesting
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Gistok
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 3:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Unfortunately Toledo's greatest movie palace, the Toledo Paramount, was pounded to rubble back in September 1965. The 3,400 seat Paramount (located at 518 Adams St.) was the largest and most palatial theatre in northwest Ohio. It was an atmospheric theatre (one of only 2 designed by Rapp & Rapp).



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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 99
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 4:34 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Slider,

I share your sentiments on Toledo. Do you know the music scene there? I know a few musicians in town. There was a bar, Frankie's, we went to a lot on the East Side,was friends with the owners of The Bottlerocket, and do I ever miss Rusty's!

Anyway, I lived on Scottwood, then Parkwood in OWE. Did you live in that area, or were you a West Sider?
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 100
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 4:41 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok,

I hate to hear that kind of thing, but I must say the interior is creepy: it's like a funeral parlor met a wedding cake and they didn't quite make a love match....

Did you find that in their library collection online? Wow, they have an incredible local history collection. DPL could learn a thing or two.
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Gistok
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, that was from the American Theatre Organ Society collection.

And that "creepy" interior is what is known as an "Atmospheric" theatre, common across America. There are atmospheric theatres in Redford, Kalamazoo, Canton, Akron and Marion Ohio, as well as cities across the country.

Atmospheric theatres had a plain blue curved ceiling with sidewalls usually designed in a Mediterranean design to give one the impression of being in a medieval or renaissance courtyard. When the lights dimmed they projected clouds and stars onto the ceiling to make the effect more realistic, usually making it look like dusk or dawn. And with the lights lowered, it gave the entire auditorium a very romantic look, hence the "atmospheric" name.
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Toledolaw05
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Toledo's 2 main forums

http://swampbubbles.com/

http://www.toledotalk.com/
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Oakmangirl
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Post Number: 103
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Got it, Gistok. :-)

The Music Box in Chicago has the "night sky" effect, but the interior is slightly more subdued.
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Xd_brklyn
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Does anybody remember the Toledo Amtrak station before it was remodeled?

My best recollection of it was arriving at about 8pm in the winter sometimes in the early 90s. The train station still had its 30s interior with its walls paneled in light green(?) enameled tiles. On the largest wall was painted "GLASS CAPITAL OF THE WORLD" in big sans serif type. It was cramped with a couple of wooden benches and there was also a grill that had a counter that sat maybe two people. My memory is vague on the other details, but the station gave me the feeling of stepping onto a film noir set. Really something.

Of course, now it is remodeled and looks as a bland and generic as anything you can imagine. Too bad.
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Elsuperbob
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Post Number: 54
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I think it's the tone of that photo and the lighting that gives the creepiness factor. In colour they're beautiful.

Here's that Chihuly chandelier and some of the neat signage on the floor









And some photos from the neighbourhood behind the museum. This is the Old West Side?











And one of my favorite paintings in the museum's collection, The Oath of the Horatii by Jacque-Louis David.




I've also noticed Toledo has a lot of advertising signs as I drove down Monroe. Much more than I see in the Detroit area. Considering my project was about signage I loved all the signs and what are apparently looser restrictions.


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Slider
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I lived all over the OWE. I lived on Glenwood at Islington for most of the time though. Then at Parkwood near Delaware and finally on Collingwood before moving to Ypsi.

Yes, I used to go to Frankies. Not regularly, but I certainly knew my way around. : ) The bottlerocket, that was at 513 Jefferson wasn't it? I actually used to work at the bar that was there before it was the bottlerocket. It was called, appropriately enough, 5one3.

Ah, so funny our paths should be so similar. But, as I heard someone say one and thought it incredibly appropriate, "it's the biggest small town you'll ever live in."

Xd - as you can tell from it's age, the Amtrak station dates from the mid 20th century. The old station that it replaced was so vilified by residents that when it caught fire, people actually cheered it's demise. That said, Toledo does have a remarkable preservation ethic for a town of it's size.
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Slider
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Post Number: 17
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

elsuperbob, actually its the Old West End. The Old West Side is in A2. :-)
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Elsuperbob
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:53 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oops, yup... My Ann Arbor apartment is in the Old West Side so I guess that name gets stuck in my head.
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Oakmangirl
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 5:57 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Elsuperbob,

It's the Old West End; they have a great web site with historic photos.

BTW, I lived in that first house you posted!

Slider, I was wondering what the name of the bar was pre-Bottlerocket. I remember when our friends bought the place, we thought it a doomed venture because everything at that locale eventually folded. In retrospect though, most everything downtown seems to fold at some point.
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Elsuperbob
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 6:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I guess it just furthers that whole "Biggest small town" line Slider mentioned. That was one of my favorites. When you lived there was it a rental or did you own it?

I'm just curious about how the inside has made it through the years. Some of the homes in Heritage Hill in Grand Rapids have been subdivided and had much of their original interiour beauty stripped while keeping the exteriour in a pretty good original state.

And I'll give the website a look. Thanks
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Oakmangirl
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 6:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, I was a renter; it's divided into 6 narrow apartments. Mine had servant's quarters, so my "help" had a place to sleep. LOL. Seriously, many have been hacked into smaller apts. but most I've been in retain their original molding, fireplaces, etc. The smaller homes are usually split into a flat.

Mark your calendar for next June. Every year there is an OWE Festival; many homeowners open up their homes for tours; there is food, yard sales, and general merriment all the way round!
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Texorama
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 6:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The presence of the University of Toledo, a good-sized state school, may be the difference from Heritage Hill--some of the Old West End homes were bought by UT staff for a song in the 1960s and 1970s, and were kept in pretty good shape. The preservation impulse got started relatively early in Toledo.

The sheer size of the neighborhood is comparable to Heritage Hill, with north of Delaware being roughly comparable to south of Wealthy--a somewhat more rundown area that still has numerous interesting buildings if you look around for them.
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Margaret
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 6:40 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

yes, I recall hearing that Danny Thomas was from Toledo. seems like he used to refer to it on his show...

LOL about the UP thing: when I was an undergrad at Western Michigan University, way back when in the early 70s, I had a good friend who was from Escanaba. she would tell everyone that when she went home for the holidays her folks had to meet her at the Mackinac Bridge with a horse and buggy. the hilarious thing was, everyone believed her! LMAO...
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Elsuperbob
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 7:01 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Oakmangirl... I'll definitely keep that in mind for next June.

Texorama, that's a good point about differences between Heritage Hill and OWE.

I have to head down to Toledo soon to check out the new bridge so I'll definitely do some more exploring of the OWE.
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Slider
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 7:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Many of the larger homes closer to the museum were subdivided into apartments. Some were done well, some were hack jobs. The part of the neighborhood north of Delaware is where the "smaller" houses of the neighborhood are (about 2000 sq st) and thus not many of those were ever subdivded and remained single family homes.

Subdividing, while a bad thing, at least kept the larger homes occupied, many of the homes north of Delaware went through serious decline and abandonment. Today both sides of Delaware are doing quite well with virtually all the homes on the four major -wood streets rehabbed (Parkwood, Scottwood, Robinwood, and Glenwood). Although the slump in the housing market has really hurt the neighborhood. I'm glad I sold when I did!

And yes, I highly recommend going to the Old West End Festival the first weekend in June. It is a blast. In recent years the parade has improved tenfold. The house tours are always great and it has a pretty impressive small art fair too
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Slider
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Posted on Monday, August 20, 2007 - 8:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Oh and in regards to 5one3. It was actually hugely successful, the place was packed every weekend. It was so popular that it drew too much business away from other gay bars and the owner of one particular bar continually called the fire department to try to hurt business by forcing the FD to ensure during peak bar hours that they were not exceeding maximum occupants. The other major nail in the coffin was that the owner sniffed the profits. The bar was sold back to the original owner (it was a restaurant called Signatures) who tried to continue to run it as 5one3, but rumors it had closed were not easy to overcome and business died. The owner then sold it to the folks who opened Bottlerocket.

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