Westside Messenger - February 12th, 2023

PAGE 4 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - February 12, 2023
Dave Dobos
STATE REPRESENTATIVE
Committee
Assignments
Announced
The Ohio House of Representatives legislative
committees for the 135th General Assembly
were named this past week. I am excited to
share that I have been named Vice Chair of the
Higher Education Committee. Additionally, I will
serve on the following committees: Finance
Subcommittee for Primary & Secondary Education,
Economic & Workforce Development, Technology
& Innovation, and Insurance. Eagerly
stepping into these roles, these committees will
enable me to both contribute in areas I have
experience and some expertise and position me
well to advocate for our district’s communities
as we work to bring more and better jobs to the
area. As Vice Chair of the Higher Education
Committee and member of the Finance Subcommittee
for Primary and Secondary Education,
I am determined to improve access to
quality education at all levels for our young
people here in District 10, as well as throughout
Ohio.
Beyond committee appointments, I also have
been busy meeting with constituents from
District 10 as well as recognizing some of them
for their accomplishments. In late January, I had
the opportunity to attend Congressman Mike
Carey’s official Military Academy Nomination
Reception at the Grove City City Hall, where five
of our finest students from Ohio’s 10th District
received nominations to prestigious military
academies. The students, their nominations,
and current high schools are as follows: Isaac
Carter, Naval Academy, Grove City High School;
Brian Fitzsimmons, Naval Academy, Bishop
Ready High School; Luke McCoy, Air Force Academy
and Naval Academy, Grove City Christian
School; Samantha Paduchik, Air Force Academy,
Grove City High School; Zachary Swierz, West
Point, Bishop Ready High School.
Pictured below is a photo of West Point
appointee Zachary Swierz. To the left is Grove
City Mayor Ike Stage; I am on the right. Mr.
Swierz is a senior at Bishop Ready High School
and will head to West Point in late June to begin
summer orientation and preparation for his
plebe (freshman) year.
(Dave Dobos represents the 10th District in the
Ohio House of Representatives, which consists
of parts of West, Southwest, and South Columbus,
Grove City, and Urbancrest. He reports regularly
on his activities in this position and his
campaign has paid for this communication with
you.)
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Opinion Page
www.columbusmessenger.com
Demolition news brings back memories of mall
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine recently
announced that the state would demolish
599 blighted and vacant structures
throughout Ohio.
One of the properties that will be torn
down is the former Westland Mall shopping
center on the westside of Columbus.
“By ridding our state of eyesores that
are hindering development and impacting
property values, we can revitalize our communities
and attract new investments,
businesses, jobs, and housing opportunities,”
said DeWine. “Many of our communities
have truly transformative ideas for
these properties, and I’m pleased that
we’re able to help remove these barriers to
development.”
Westland Mall opened in the late 1960s
as an open-aired shopping center. It was
enclosed in the early 1980s and featured
anchor stores like Lazarus (which later
became Macy’s), Sears, and JC Penney.
Eventually, JC Penney left to relocate at
Tuttle Mall, and many retail outlets followed.
Sears was the last anchor store
remaining and most businesses were gone
by 2012.
Although I see the need for it, the news
of the demolition brought back many memories
of my time spent at Westland Mall.
When I was a kid, my mom would take
my sister and I out to eat at the restaurant
that was located on the upper floor of
Lazarus. After dinner, my mom would
shop, my sister would hide in the clothes
racks in the store, and I would have to find
her. I remember my mom taking my sister
and I to get our pictures taken with Santa
It arose in former farm fields along South
Hamilton Road like a crop of bricks, concrete,
and asphalt that bloomed into a shopping
destination.
Eastland Mall opened in 1968 and
brought large retailers like Lazarus, Sears,
and J.C. Penney’s to the southeastern corner
of Franklin County. Prior to that, one had to
drive to downtown Columbus to shop at
Lazarus, or, before I-270 was built, motor
down Williams Road to the Great Southern
Shopping Center strip mall on South High
Street to visit the Woolco there among other
stores.
But, in 1968 with Eastland Mall’s arrival,
it was bright lights, big city minutes away
from your front door. Within its enclosed confines
one could find big anchor stores like J.C.
Penney, Sears, and Lazarus as well as other
stores such as Woolworth’s, Radio Shack, and
Spencer’s. There was even a movie theater in
the mall. My first high school date was at
that movie theater. I remember how beautiful
and fun the girl was who accompanied me
on the date, but I don’t remember what the
movie was, probably because I was so mesmerized
by her!
I do remember many other things about
Eastland Mall from those days of the late
1960s into the 1970s. There was an eye catching
art work in the center of the mall that
consisted of strings extending from the ceiling
to the floor. The odd part about it was
there was some kind of goop that slowly
dripped along the strings to the base of the
art work. Never really understood if it meant
anything, but it was interesting to look at.
In my youth I used to mow about a dozen
lawns to earn my spending money. Often that
money went to purchases of rock and roll
records from J.C. Penney’s. In those days I
did not know about the cool record stores that
existed near the Ohio State University campus,
but I did realize someone in the JC
Penney purchasing department was in the
know about stocking records because that
store always had a good supply of what was
then cutting edge music 50 years ago. I
bought Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”
there along with The Who’s “Who’s Next” and
“Live at Leeds,” as well as a Ramones album
among many others.
Eastland Mall’s J.C. Penney’s was where
as a kid I made what at the time I felt was my
Cordle’s Corner
Andrea Cordle
or with the Easter bunny. When I was
maybe 7 or 8, I got my ears pierced at
Claire’s.
When I was a teenager, Westland Mall
became the place to hang out with my
friends. (I’m sure the other shoppers and
retail workers loved to have teens loitering
around all day!) My mom would drop me off
at the mall then give me a few hours to just
run around. I would get those soft pretzel
sticks from Hot Sam’s and dip them in the
cheese sauce, then I would get a chocolate
chip or M&M cookie from Original Cookie.
(Not healthy — I know!)
I remember going into Wilson’s Leather
and always wanting those cool leather jackets.
I finally persuaded my parents to buy
me one. I got a green suede jacket that I
ruined almost immediately because I was
not aware at the time that the material
was not waterproof.
Once, I went shopping with my dad.
This was something monumental as my
dad never went shopping. He was going to
the mall to buy my mom a birthday gift and
he let me tag along. We were in the
Limited, which was a big deal for me. At
that age, I thought the Limited was a very
high-end outlet, way out of my price range.
(Of course, everything was out of my price
range as I did not make any money at the
age of 14.) As my dad was looking for a gift
for my mom, he told me I could pick out one
item for myself. I was so excited! I was
going to get something to wear from the
Limited! I picked out this pea soup green,
angora haired sweater. When I wore the
sweater the following day, I quickly realized
that I did not
like angora and
green was a terrible
color on me. I felt
like it was such a
wasted opportunity.
I tried to wear the
sweater a few more
times, with an
undershirt that would help the itching, but
parts inevitably would touch my skin, causing
irritation.
I had my first police experience at
Westland Mall. I was just hanging out with
a group of friends when a police officer
walked by. Trying to show off, I said, “I
smell bacon. Does anyone else smell
bacon?” (This was when the movie
“Wayne’s World” was popular and I loved
that film.) I thought the interaction would
be similar to the one in the movie. I was
wrong. The officer did not appreciate the
comment and he promptly put me in my
place.
I’m sure most people from the westside
and southwest part of the city have many
memories of Westland Mall as I do. I hope
the property will be redeveloped so generations
to come can make new memories.
Westland Mall is scheduled to be demolished
this year.
Andrea Cordle is editor of the Westside
and Grove City Messenger.
Shopping centers come and go but the memories remain
Editor’s Notebook
Rick Palsgrove
first “grown up” purchase - a pair of nice
binoculars for $30. I still have those binoculars.
During my high school years I bought several
books at the book store at Eastland Mall
(I think it was a Borders store) that were
required reading in some of my English classes.
Books like Hemingway’s “Farewell to
Arms” and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The
House of the Seven Gables.” I admit I was
tempted to buy the “Cliff’s Notes” version of
what I perceived to be a dreadful Hawthorne
book, but I withstood the desire for a short
cut and plowed through “The House of the
Seven Gables” and was a better person for
the experience.
Eastland Mall, like many other businesses,
suffered through some tough economic
times. Retail goes in cycles, stores and shopping
centers come and go, but memories of
places remain.
Rick Palsgrove is the managing editor of the
Columbus Messenger Newspapers.