Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024
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Volume 10, Issue YY
What will Midway Mall be? Public will get say on two finalists remaining for the parcel on Route 58 for Food Innovation will be invited to put up “static” presentations and present The Lorain County Port Authority Board financial data. A specific time wasn’t set in stone. of Directors has whittled the number of The public will be invited to view the proposals for the redevelopment of the presentations and submit questions, he Midway Mall to two finalists. said. Following a closed-door executive sesWednesday’s decision eliminates Scansion, the board voted Wednesday to have nell Properties of Minnesota from contenIndustrial Commercial Partners, or ICP, tion. and the Center for Food Innovation and its Scannell had proposed to create “Midproposal for “The Garden” present to the public during an event at Midway Mall on way Center,” a mixed-use industrial development with four buildings totaling Feb. 15. 783,000 square feet of space. The comPort Authority Director Jim Miller said representatives from ICP and the Center pany proposed attracting a “diverse range” Dave O’Brien The Community Guide
of companies, including light manufacturing, logistics, distribution and data centers. A fourth group, DiGeronimo Development, was invited to present but ended up dropping out of contention in January. Nearly 58 acres of mall property on Elyria’s north side are up for redevelopment. The Port Authority, with financial backing from the Lorain County Board of Commissioners, bought the property for $13.9 million in January 2023. The Port Authority is landlord to the few remaining stores in the mall. It also owns the portions of the mall that used to be See MIDWAY MALL, A2
Mardi Gras time! And time for Kiedrowski’s Bakery to start making those paczki treats
Giant Eagle buys part of Golden Acres Dave O’Brien The Community Guide
Giant Eagle will pay at least $1.6 million for property on state Route 58 in Amherst Township to put in a GetGo convenience store/gas station and a WetGo car wash, according to the Lorain County Port Authority. The two parcels at 46001 North Ridge Road and 105 S. Leavitt Road were part of the Golden Acres Nursing Home, now owned by the Port Authority. The Port Authority took possession of the two parcels from the Lorain County Board of Commissioners in 2013, according to County Auditor’s Office. Port Authority Director Jim Miller did not have a timetable for closing the deal. He said previous plans for a fast food restaurant on the corner fell through before he became Port Authority director in February 2021. There is a GetGo gas station in front of the Giant Eagle on Kresge Drive in Amherst, three-quarters of a mile north of the property. It wasn’t clear what would happen to that location if this new plan goes through. One large parcel of the Golden Acres property has not yet been sold, according to the Port Authority. Contact Dave O’Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@ chroniclet.com.
BRUCE BISHOP / COMMUNITY GUIDE
Tim Kiedrowski, the owner of Kiedrowski’s Bakery in Amherst, gives some paczki-making tips to his cousin, Brian Greasby, visiting from Shawno, Wisconsin, with his wife, Sharon.
40 years. “My motto is failure is not an option and I live by that,” AMHERST — While Fat he said. “There were days that Tuesday is still more than a were hard and days that I spent week away (Feb. 13), paczki madness has begun at Kiedopen to close baking as much rowski’s Bakery in Amherst. as I could, but it’s the tradition The bakery rolled out its and being able to talk to people iconic pastries Friday morning. about their memories and “If you’re from Lorain traditions of Polish baking that County, I am sure you’ve seen made me keep going.” the lines of people come out Kiedrowski said he looks when it’s Paczki Day. It’s a traforward to seeing the line of dition,” bakery co-owner and people out his door on Feb. head baker Tim Kiedrowski 13 as the celebrations for Fat said. Tuesday commence. Filled The bakery, which opened in Paczis are filled donuts rolled in powdered sugar. with laughter and of course January 1984, has been selling Mary who told us that in PoSeven years later, the bakery polka music, the parking lot of paczkis (pronounced poonland they were making apricot introduced its newest flavor, 2267 Cooper Foster Park Road shkee) since the start, although and poppyseed flavors as well, Edelweiss, in honor of Tim’s is sure to be alive, Kiedrowski it wasn’t always as big as it is so we rolled those out, too.” wife, Terry, and her family. promised. now. When they first debuted the “Ours are completely Polish “While Fat Tuesday kind of “Growing up, my mom treats, Kiedrowski says the from being baked like a pastry lines up with Valentine’s Day,” would always work at St. bakery hoped to see around 20 to being filled with traditional Kiedrowski said. “I like to Stan’s and they had paczkis dozen sold. Last year, during Polish fillings,” he said. say it’s best to get someone a but at the time they only made 10 days, they sold 9,900 dozen. And that’s what it’s all about dozen roses, which of course sugar and prune flavors,” he In 2012, the selection grew for Kiedrowski. It was a family I mean a dozen Polish rose said. “Well, when I started the once, more this time offering tradition that drove the bakery paczkis.” bakery in ‘84, I wanted to bring owner to open back in 1984 Contact Lauren Hoffman at back that tradition and we had Kiedrowski’s mother’s recipe for Polish Rose, which includes and it’s tradition that he says (440) 328-6902 or lhoffman@ a woman working for us from Poland who we called Polish real rose petals inside the jelly. has kept him going for the last chroniclet.com. Lauren Hoffman The Comunity Guide
Running low on 440 436 area code added The Community Guide
Lorain County residents can expect to see a new area code, 436, coming this year for any new phone subscriptions or plans. The 440 area code will “exhaust” sometime this year. That’s what happens “when nearly all of the telephone prefixes within that area code are assigned,” according to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, or PUCO. Some consumers should have received notice from their cellular or telephone company providers about the new area code. According to PUCO, an “area code overlay” with the new 436 area code was approved in late 2022 to prepare for the 440 exhaust this year. The 436 area code will overlay the existing 440 area code, and serve the same geographic area. New phone subscribers in that geographic area will be assigned numbers with the new 436 area code. “Existing customers will not need to change their phone numbers but will keep their current phone numbers and area code,” according to PUCO. The new area code could be seen on new numbers as early as March 1.
INSIDE THIS WEEK Amherst
Downtown is back in sweets. A3
Oberlin
Black History Month celebrated. A4
Wellington
High school adds arts classes. A5
SPORTS A6 • CROSSWORD A7 • SUDOKU A7 • KID SCOOP A8