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Lovell Place began as an exciting showcase for the creative use of an old manufacturing plant.
The huge brick building at East 13th and French Streets was once home to a wringer-washing machine company. Its graceful arched windows and bold structure served as a tribute to Erie's success as an industrial center. Its renovation showed that our past could be preserved and that Erie's present could be reinvented. We'd become a city with a cool environment for urbanites.
But the complex fell on hard times when developer Stephen B. Garvey ran into financial problems before his vision for revitalizing Erie could be achieved. McGarvey died in February 2005, and Lovell Place filed for bankruptcy in October that year.
Now Lovell Place is expected to soon emerge from bankruptcy. A potential buyer is ready to take over the 347,000-square-foot complex, which still has room to expand on its unfinished fourth floors. "People get excited about the prospects. That's the type of excitement you want to have," said Guy Fustine, the lawyer for Lovell Place Limited Partnership, which has until April 8 to set a date for the sale in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
"This is the year," Fustine promised. "There is no doubt this is the year."
The probable sale is a good sign that our economy is starting to recover. So is the return of Matthew's Trattoria restaurant, which closed in April but renegotiated its lease and reopened in December. The restaurant adds nightlife to the large area between East 13th and 14th streets, from French to Holland, and reinforces the original idea that Lovell Place could serve multiple tenants.
Erie Book Store also adds to the ambience, and owner Kathleen Cantrell is pleased with the prospect of the sale. Her store has been there for more than 11 years, and she says that under the partnership, "maintenance had improved and been very good."
Those who champion redevelopment for downtown Erie say that the work needs to be done block by block, and that success in one area will lead to success in adjoining neighborhoods. That's why it's also good news that the Snoops Neighborhood Watch Group has received a $285,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development's Elm Street Program.
This grant will be used for facade work, park renovations and demolition of blighted property in the Snoops area, between East 12th and 15th, from Holland to Wayne streets.
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