Tt post thu sep 1 2016

quote=205974

My June 2007 Toledo Talk post that referenced a June 2007 Blade op-ed titled The Masons flee once more

THE announced departure of the Masonic organization from the Zenobia Shrine location it has occupied for nearly six decades on Madison Avenue is not the first time the Masons have decided to abandon the heart of the city.

Many Toledoans will recall that the Masons left their downtown temple at Michigan and Adams streets and opened a new Masonic complex in 1969 on Heatherdowns Boulevard, a complex that included a theater initially known as the Masonic Auditorium.

It was a move opposed by this newspaper as far back as 1965, when we lamented what amounted to a selfish sabotage of community efforts to rejuvenate downtown Toledo.

Man, the newspaper can hold a grudge.

My comment from that June 2007 post:

The Blade is probably jealous that it cannot move to Wood County.

In the 1990s, I worked in both versions of that Northwood building, located near the intersection of Wales and Oregon roads. The remnants of my former employer moved to downtown Toledo back in May.

Ten years ago, the Blade (and some other people) supported moving UT's law school to downtown Toledo. Actually, the Blade is still pushing this idea.

January 2016 column by Keith Burris:

Move the UT law school downtown.

It has been talked about many times by many smart people and there is no good reason not to do it. It would add another level of dynamism and intellectual capital to what is already happening downtown and would, I think, be good for UT and its law students — less cocooning and more community.

Will the Blade cocoon itself away from downtown Toledo and possibly away from all of Toledo and possibly out of Lucas County?

Back in 2014, the Blade began pushing for Owens Community College to create a presence in downtown Toledo.

Why not increase Owens’ presence in downtown Toledo? Most recently, these voices have included The Blade, editorially, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

And the push continues in 2016.

April 2016 Blade op-ed

Maybe the future for Owens is in bringing its product to its clientele: Cherry Street, TPS, other public high schools in the region, and downtown. Lose those big campuses.

But the future is not in a taxpayer bailout.

Selling property to a taxpayer-supported entity may be a good idea.

From the Aug 31, 2016 Blade story about possibly selling its building:

Mr. Zerbey said Blade employees could be moved to buildings owned by the company where Buckeye Broadband, which is also owned by Block Communications Inc., was located.

“There is also a plan to keep part or a good chunk of the newsroom downtown somewhere in the future,” he said.

More than 200 people work at The Blade’s downtown building.

http://toledotalk.com/cgi-bin/tt.pl/article/203280/Blade