The Aragon Ballroom has looked like this for too long...And to think it is listed as a CLEVELAND LANDMARK!!!!
Tell the citizens of Ward 14 and the Near West Side why former recorder Patrick O'Malley was not "CODE ENFORCED" out of ownership over the past 10 years of allowing this property to deteriorate... When countless property owners have been targeted and sent packing...
Was Patrick O'Malley "connected" or was he just "special"???
Word on the street is that there are "NEW OWNERS" in town....what's the real story?
According to Case Western Reserve University's online Cleveland History, the following facts are noting...
The ARAGON was Cleveland's last surviving ballroom from the big-band era. Opened by Lloyd Harry Meyers in October 1930, it was located in a former roller rink at 3139 W. 25 St., near Clark Ave. Among the entertainers who played there to crowds of up to 2,000 were Glenn Miller, the Dorseys, Freddy Martin, Harry James, Guy Lombardo, and the Andrews Sisters. Radio broadcasts were a weekly feature, continuing into the 1960s. Though declared a historic site by the Cleveland Landmarks Commission in 1980, the dance hall had an intermittent existence following its sale by Meyers in 1987. The latest attempt to revive it, in 1991-92, proved unsuccessful.
Former CMDC plans...deprived Aragon of needed parking .
Apparently, Pat O'Malley fought over county foreclosure for property tax arrears while trying to sell it.
One of the last listed events at the Aragon Ballroom appear to be circa April 10 & 11 1992 with some MTV events.
Then, as one of Cleveland's underground dance clubs, The Aragon hosted Cleveland's first official RAVE in June 1992 and lost money despite having over 750 people attend.
The Aragon Ballroom on West 25th Street near Clark Avenue was the site of many local radio broadcasts, beginning as early as 1930. After World War II, they often featured Paul Burton’s orchestra.
Aragon Ballroom remains Listed as one of the National Ballroom & Entertainment Association's "Ballrooms of the Past."
With such a vibrant history...it is a shame that such a Cleveland Landmark could be left to rot...
Links:
[1] http://planning.city.cleveland.oh.us/landmark/listDetail.php?identity=3
[2] http://ech.cwru.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=A12
[3] http://www.nhlink.net/plainpress/html/stories/2007-09/formercmdcdirectorseekstoclearname.htm
[4] http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/01/cuyahoga_county_forecloses_on.html
[5] http://www.setlist.fm/venue/aragon-ballroom-cleveland-oh-usa-73d60291.html
[6] http://mw-raves.org/old/lunar/regions/ohio/cleveland.html
[7] http://www.cleveland.oh.us/wmv_news/jazz122.htm
[8] http://www.nbea.com/archives11.htm
[9] http://li326-157.members.linode.com/system/files/P4110035.JPG
