EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – Work has begun on a small park at the corner of two main streets downtown as part of the continuing effort to revitalize the city.
The East Liverpool Beautification Society was awarded a grant by The Beaver Creek Realtors Association for the Corner in Time project at the corner of Sixth and Broadway streets.
A restored clock that was originally installed as part of the Task Force Fawcett downtown revitalization started in 1992 will be featured at the corner.
The clock’s face and inner workings are no longer present, but the beautification group decided to restore it in honor of local businessman Dr. Marc D. Hoffrichter, who has been described as the “driving force” behind the original 1992 revitalization.
That project began when Hoffrichter was asked to head the $2.1 million downtown revitalization, which included sidewalks, sewers, repaving streets and installing underground utilities and a fountain and decorative light poles.
Then Mayor Dolores Satow named Hoffrichter the downtown economic development assistant, an unpaid position approved by City Council, and Hoffrichter – a former dentist and founder and owner of MDH Investment Management Inc. – began soliciting donations.
Among the items Hoffrichter managed to get funded were 230 inscribed pavers at $25 each and more than 100 streetlights at $1,250 each. He secured cash donations despite the difficult economic plight the city found itself in at the time.
Hoffrichter was quoted at the time as saying East Liverpool “had no more problems than other central city areas throughout the United States” that had experienced migration to suburban areas.
East Liverpool, Hoffrichter said at the time, had “several strong attributes to build on,” naming the downtown Kent State University branch, East Liverpool City Hospital, also located downtown, the Carnegie Public Library, Museum of Ceramics, Alumni Center Clock Tower and the Ohio riverfront.
Satow was also quoted then as saying appointing Hoffrichter to the post was possibly one of the most important accomplishments she had made. “He doesn’t know the meaning of the word no,” she said.
During a recent interview, Hoffrichter reminisced about his efforts on the Task Force Fawcett project and how one local resident was asked to consider a large donation.
“She reached down, picked up her purse and wrote a check for $50,000,” he said.
He also recollected the dedication of the center of town as Devon’s Diamond after the late Mayor William Devon, whose picture still graces the area.
Although some aspects of the revitalization – such as a major hotel – didn’t materialize, the Task Force Fawcett project resulted in major improvements to downtown.
A bulky scrapbook Hoffrichter keeps outlines the project from its inception throughout its completion, including letters and news clippings of both support and doubt about the major project he undertook.
“Every time I go downtown and pass the diamond, my heart goes pitter-patter,” he said.
According to Mary Beth Jones and Janie Smith, who co-chair the beautification society, the Corner in Time will feature the original clock frame and pole with a new clock face and mechanics that will light at night.
In addition, in a portion of the parking lot will be a small seating area with benches and tables.
The area will be highlighted by two 4-by-8 painted signs produced by Campbell’s Signs, depicting a timeline of the city’s history, starting with the Point of Beginning when surveying of the country’s Northwest Territory began here.
Society members were braving the rain last week as they cleaned weeds from the sidewalk grating and put down fabric to prevent future weed growth.
Along the edges of the park area, new decorative black pearl landscaping stone was also put down.
The new park will be located across the street from the The Sons of the American Revolutionary War Memorial at Sixth and Washington streets, which will memorialize the 157 known patriots of the war who are buried in Columbiana County.
The beautification committee is still attempting to raise $10,000 toward the clock renovation, and donations can be sent to: ELBS, P.O. Box 448, East Liverpool, OH 43920.
Plans call for both the war memorial and Corner in Time park to be completed by July 11, when the city will celebrate the country’s 250th birthday.
Although not all details of the day’s celebration are complete, events will be held from 1-8 p.m. and include the unveiling ceremony for the war monument, a barbershop quartet performance, East Liverpool High School choir and band performance, local musician Bill Crawford, antique vehicle show, pie judging and eating contest, specialty foods from food trucks and local eateries, The Amazing Race Event, activities for children and more.
Pictured at top: The original clock will be upgraded with a new face and mechanisms at the edge of Corner of Time in East Liverpool.