December 20 was a sad day for Lima. Another piece of our history was destroyed.
Gone!
The colonnade tumbled over 115 years after craftsmen remodeled the original 1870s Hughes-Russell mansion at 649 W. Market St.
Why didn’t the “powers to be” rescue this grand structure, making it useful to benefit out city?
Many of us remember Y-teen meetings, calligraphy classes, teas and swim meets. Young girls stepped into each enchanted room dreaming of a more elegant life.
Well, the dream house is gone. Lima citizens were deceived into thinking the mansion would be spared. Instead, the sneaks tore i down on the Friday before the Christmas rush. The final insult is they have no plans for the empty lot. What a waste!
One by one the great structures that tell a story of a thriving past are being demolished. No Lima Locomotive works. No Golden Block. No lovely movie theaters. No American Mall. No Memorial Hall.
Wait a minute!
Could it be Memorial Hall will suffer the same fate? It will unless the people of Lima care enough to save it.
Built over 100 years ago to save our veterans, Memorial Hall is worthy of preservation. Nothing built today can compare with the quality and craftsmanship with its grandeur in marble and brass and glittering chandeliers.
Citizens of Lima, rally to save Memorial Hall. Let it stand along with the Allen County Museum and MacDonnell House as the last vestiges of Lima’s great history. Let it not fall as the Hughes-Russell mansion did just hours before Christmas.
Lisa Weaver, Elida
