Rather than landfilling these Cleveland metropolitan area luminary legacies, Rocky River will divide the former Beachcliff lamp posts into two lots and auction them off, Nov. 4.

Historical lamps featured at auction
By Jennifer Mitchell
Rocky River
Published Oct. 25, 2006

Hoping to keep a few pieces of Cleveland area history burning bright, the city will auction off two lots of grand old lamps at the Nov. 4 police auction.

The lamps once occupied a prominent place in what is now the revamped Beachcliff Market Square, slated for a grand re-opening in November. The current developer decided to go with a newer product after the remodel and history buffs didn’t want the pole lamps to perish. Before the luminaries made their way to Rocky River, the blue-green beauties lit the streets of the Forest Hill subdivision in Cleveland Heights as early as 1929.

Rocky River resident Scott Maurer bought them from Cleveland in 1976 and installed them at the Beachcliff complex off of Detroit Road.

Over time, they fell into disrepair. Because the current Beachcliff developer didn’t want to use them, they were dismantled by city employees and stored at the service garage. City officials looked into using them for the recent streetscape at Detroit and Lake roads, but safety issues and the age of the light posts were a concern.

Members of the Forest Hill Historic Preservation Society contacted the city via letter, hoping to keep the lamps from the landfill.

“While we remain upset with the removal (from Forest Hills), we always knew that we could revisit what once was,” the society’s board of trustees wrote. Once the lamps were taken down, that was no longer the case. The trustees asked Rocky River to help return the lamp posts to where they belong.

Knowing that Maurer, the Rocky River Historical Society and the Forest Hill Historic Preservation Society all had an interest in the fixtures, Mayor Pamela Bobst talked to City Council about possible courses of action.

It was decided that the Rocky River Historical Society and Forest Hill Historic Preservation Society each will receive a donated lamp.

After that, lamp posts, lamps and parts for eight or nine original sets will be divvied up into two lots and sold. This ensures all of the parts needed to get a lantern up and working again. The winning resident bidder, or bidders, must agree to renovate and install a light within a year. The lanterns will have to be displayed in a conspicuous area of the buyer’s business or residential property that is approved by city officials to be made visible to Rocky River residents.

Kory Koran, the city’s business and economic development director, said he is hoping whoever buys the antiques has expertise in such things.

Prospective purchasers must obtain a bid packet prior to the auction at City Hall, 21012 Hilliard Blvd.

Besides the lamp lots, the police auction will feature bicycles, electronics, office items and miscellaneous goods. The bidding gets under way at 9 a.m. The lamps and other merchandise can be viewed from 8 to 9 a.m. the day of the auction at the Rocky River Police Station garage.