Take Me to Church
Our family moved into Lakewood in the summer of 2000. After searching the area for a church, we found a home in St. James Catholic Church. We attended mass there every Sunday for almost 10 years until Bishop Richard Lennon closed the church as part of a diocese-wide downsizing. Two years later it became the sixth of 11 area churches that successfully appealed to the Vatican to reverse the closure and reopen its doors, but we had already moved on to another church.
Thus, it has been 14 years since I walked down Northwood towards the garden area and side entrance to St. James. As I was taking the picture of the view from Northwood a number of memories came back to me. I can remember our youngest daughter Anna being baptized in the church by Deacon Jim in what was probably the longest baptism I have ever attended (I appreciate the effort though). There were hundreds of services sitting with our young children in the front left section of the pews (our “spot”). We made many friends at that church and have stayed in touch with some of them to this day. I still believe it is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever attended service.
The other end of Northwood is home to the McKinley Place townhome development. According to a posting on our city website in June 2017, Smart Business Cleveland presented its top award for commercial development to McKinley Place – built on the former home of McKinley Elementary School. Seven years after being built, it now seems to fit right into the neighborhood.
