Home Care In Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Mark J. Price

If you’ve always wanted to see the Cathedral Tower completed, today is a gift from above.

We don’t wish to mislead you.

Construction is not about to resume on TV evangelist Rex Humbard’s unfinished spire in Cuyahoga Falls.

However, after decades of waiting, we thought you wouldn’t mind looking beyond the gray monstrosity to behold the majestic edifice that Humbard envisioned at State Road and Portage Trail.

Summit County motorists have grown so accustomed to the concrete-and-steel tower that it’s easy for them to drive past without looking up. Out-of-towners might wonder why any factory would need a smokestack that large.

Workers broke ground Sept. 10, 1971, on the 750-foot structure, which Humbard estimated would cost $3.9 million (about $21.8 million today). It was to be the tallest building in Ohio and the seventh tallest in the United States.

“The tower will be a national landmark and will be seen by 22 million people weekly on television,” he promised.

Humbard (1919-2007), a former tent revival preacher, began his TV ministry in Akron in 1952 and was the first evangelist to host a national weekly program in America. His congregation, originally known as Calvary Temple, outgrew the Copley Theater in West Akron, moved to the Ohio Theater in Cuyahoga Falls and built the 5,000-seat, $4 million Cathedral of Tomorrow in 1958 off State Road in what was then Northampton Township.

By 1970, Humbard’s syndicated program appeared on nearly 400 TV stations in North America and was broadcast overseas in 91 languages. Adjacent to the domed cathedral, the minister planned to build WCOT-TV (Channel 55) to provide “wholesome family entertainment” in Northeast Ohio.

“Since I have to build a tower anyway for my new Channel 55 in Akron, why not do one that will do more than just sit there?” Humbard mused.

The church leader found divine inspiration 1,700 miles away at a religious rally in Alberta, Canada, when he spotted the 626-foot Calgary Tower and realized it would look magnificent next to his cathedral. Humbard enlisted Cuyahoga Falls architect Keith Haag to adapt Calgary architect W.G. Milne’s original 1968 design.

The Cathedral Tower would feature a 250-seat restaurant, television studio, observation deck and maintenance floor in a round, four-level structure atop a 494-foot concrete column 66 feet in diameter at the top. A steel antenna bearing a giant cross would rise 176 feet above the TV studio’s roof.

Patrons would arrive at a visitors center and museum at the base of the tower and ride two high-speed elevators that would whisk them to the upper levels in about a minute.

“Beneath the television studios, at the 517-foot level, there will be an observation deck encircling the tower,” the cathedral explained in a color brochure. “From this vantage point, all of Northeastern Ohio will unfold to the gaze of tower visitors.

“Below the observation deck, at the 504-foot level, will be one of the world’s most spectacular restaurants. The dining room will combine outstanding meals with breathtaking, panoramic views as the entire restaurant rotates at a rate of one complete revolution each hour and a half.”

There were a few early setbacks. Country radio station WSLR filed an injunction to stop the construction, fearing that the structure would interfere with the station’s signal, but the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit.

Some neighbors looked at the plans and recoiled. They didn’t want anyone peeping down into their homes from 500 feet above and they feared that the tower would be an eyesore.

The Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communications Commission gave their blessing, though, and the Northampton Township Board of Zoning Appeals followed suit.

“We hope to have the concrete poured before cold weather sets in,” Humbard announced.

In early November, the M.W. Kellogg Construction Co. began pouring concrete in three shifts 24 hours a day. The job required 19 million pounds of concrete and 500,000 pounds of steel reinforcing rods.

Workers emptied one cement truck every hour as the tower climbed more than 200 feet a day. In 22 days, it had reached 494 feet.

On Nov. 28, Humbard and his wife, Maude Aimee, a gospel singer, rode in an elevator to the top of the work platform as the construction crew celebrated its final pour.

“Cancel my insurance,” a jubilant Humbard joked while looking down into the hollow tower. “When I go, I want everybody to be sad.”

Nobody realized that the tower had reached its peak. Over the next few months, Humbard’s ministry would suffer a devastating financial calamity.

The Ohio Commerce Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the ministry of selling unregistered securities to members of its congregation. The Cathedral of Tomorrow had to sell off most of its assets to pay back $12 million in unsecured bonds.

Six weeks after the tower work halted, Humbard tried to arrange financing with the Northern Ohio Bank of Cleveland.

“We’re now in the process of getting bids for the rest of the work,” he noted in February 1972. “Rather than contracting the work ourselves, the way we started the job, we’re going to get definite contracts from each firm that will work on the tower.”

In 1972, Humbard scaled back his plans, announcing that the tower would house a museum, library and prayer center instead of a restaurant and TV studio.

Five years later, with no construction on the horizon, he was still hopeful.

“Someday we’ll finish it, and it’ll be a landmark — a tourist attraction,” Humbard said in 1978.

Naysayers cracked jokes about the unfinished structure and gave it vulgar nicknames. Some residents complained that the tower was ugly and should be torn down. Community officials were powerless to intervene.

WCOT-TV never did go on the air. Humbard sold his television complex to Ernest Angley Ministries, whose renamed station, WBNX, premiered in 1985 on Channel 55.

In 1994, Humbard sold the Cathedral of Tomorrow for $2.5 million to Angley’s ministry.

Fetching far less was the much-maligned Cathedral Tower, which Cuyahoga Falls businessman Mike Krieger bought at a sheriff’s sale for $30,000 in 1989.

The former national landmark is now being used as a cellphone tower.

In a manner of speaking, it did find a higher calling.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — The City of Akron is about to do Fall maintenance at Lake Rockwell. When the city does that kind of work, it releases water into the Cuyahoga River, and the kayakers capitalize.

Ian Allan paddles stretches of the Cuyahoga River several times a week.

"I don't like to call it training, but I'm out here quite a bit improving my form and my technique to be able to handle these rapids, no matter what level comes up," Allan said.

Allan is familiar with the rocks and the twists and turns of the rapids, but this weekend won't be like others. As Akron conducts its maintenance, more water comes rushing through the Cuyahoga River.

"Right now, it's considered somewhat a low level. The dam is going to put out enough to make it a really nice medium, which will bring out a lot of people who are comfortable with the area," Allan said.

The white water is prime for skilled paddlers like Allan and a big draw to the city for other experienced paddlers.

Falls Outdoor Company is already preparing for more people to walk through its doors interested in getting in a boat.

"You should be paddling with someone else. You should always be dressed appropriately. Watch the temperature of the waters, not the temperature of the air," said J.T. Haught with the Falls Outdoor Company.

On Wednesday, the project to clean up the Cuyahoga River and the Gorge Dam removal project secured funding from the Biden Administration. The Biden Administration and private sector will start work beginning with sediment removal in 2024. Cuyahoga Falls Mayor Don Walters said the removal of the 100-year-old Gorge Dam will bring even more vibrancy to the city that's seen a renaissance tied to the riverfront in recent years.

"Right now, we have about a half mile of challenging white water, the class 5 rapids; when the Gorge Dam comes down, we will have over 2 miles of challenging white water for these kayakers, and there's nothing east of the Mississippi, nothing like that, so they'll be coming in. We'll have to be building more restaurants and hotels to accommodate that," Walters said.

Walters said kayakers from multiple states will make their way downtown for it all. Back on the river Thursday, Allan and some others are getting ready for the water to whip this weekend.

"We always appreciate people cheering us on or at least being interested in what we're doing because we're generally here by ourselves," Allan said.

The best spot to watch the white-water action is from Front Street behind the Sheraton Hotel, from High Bridge Glens Park, or from any of the restaurants and shops along Front Street.

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — Concerned Cuyahoga Falls residents packed a July 17 city council meeting to express their concerns over a proposed new fire station burn tower and fire training facility.

Residents at the meeting made it clear they are overwhelmingly in favor of a new fire station to replace old fire station #4 on Northampton Road but told News 5 that the burn tower and fire training facility part of the plan should be moved to a more remote location due to safety and environmental concerns.

Concerned Homeowner Danielle Wilson told News 5 the city did not issue an adequate warning about the proposed project, so she's created a petition drive to try and get the vote on the burn tower delay and see if another building site for the fire training facility.

“I felt blindsided when I heard this was going to the planning commission, so I created this petition to actually gauge what the community wants," Wilson said. “There’s no way that there’s not going to be an impact. Is it going to be toxic? We don’t know, but there is certainly going to be an impact on the peace of this environment.”

Homeowner Russ Iona lives 1/2 mile away from the proposed location for the burn tower and believes smoke from the tower will be an issue. “In just 200 feet, we have a dog park, we have playground, we have pickle ball courts, we have basketball courts, and we have a fire station, nobody was property notified about this," Iona said. “This is a training facility for 12 to 16 other municipalities plus the University of Akron. When they say smoke, water, traffic are not issues, I just don’t believe that.”

Homeowner Brenda Meyers agrees the proposed burn tower presents a potential health and safety issue.

“It's in a place where it should not belong. I live on West Bath Road a place that doesn’t have fire hydrant safety. We do not have water if a spark would occur," Meyers said. “Today in the City of Cuyahoga Falls, they canceled outside activities due to poor air quality due to the air quality right now. If we had a burn tower here, that would make it even worse.”

However, Chief Chris Martin, with the Cuyahoga Falls Fire Department, who attended the July 17 city council meeting, again defended the proposal for a burn tower and fire training facility at the old fire station location.

Martin told News 5 he's confident in his fire department's ability to control the smoke and control the atmosphere.

“It’s hard, almost impossible, to know how many times we’re going to burn. We are going to set a maximum number of times that we will burn to make sure that we don’t overuse the facility. It’s going to be part of the ordinance when it’s drafted,” Martin said. “We have to comply with all EPA standards. It has to be a permitted facility and a permitted burn every time we burn.”

Martin told News 5 that the fires at the proposed fire tower will be very small and utilize easily controlled wood pallets and straw.

“Here in the City of Cuyahoga Falls, you can build a five-by-five-foot bonfire. Ours will be less than that. It’s a finite amount of smoke that we are going control," Martin said. ”If weather and wind conditions are not conducive to training and smoke is traveling where we don’t want it, where it creates an unsafe environment, we’re not going to train. We are either going to postpone or cancel the training altogether.”

Cuyahoga Falls Ward 8 Councilman Frank Stams also agreed with resident concerns and told News 5 he would vote against the proposal, but said it's not clear if the project would get the required majority of 6 votes if it was voted on next week.

News 5 will continue to follow through on this developing story.

Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls will soon add Boss ChickNBeer to its lineup of restaurants.

The new eatery is a woman-owned local startup that's best known for its dry-rubbed wings, chicken tenders, onion rings, sandwiches and gluten-free offerings. Heads up, it costs $100 to get those wings tossed in sauce, according to the menu. Why? "'Cuz we don't believe in that!" it states.

Menu at Boss ChickNBeer

In fact, having multiple options on the menu for those who are vegan, dairy-free, vegetarian or gluten-free was a deliberate choice by owners Heather Doeberling and Emily Moes. The pair have made Boss ChickNBeer a fully “OMNI” restaurant, meaning that every item on the chicken menu has a counterpart on the plant-based menu.

Has this city won the food lottery?:Cuyahoga Falls' Mexibachi Grill puts Japanese, Mexican cuisine fans in state of yum fusion

Boss ChickNBeer's beer selection

Beer lovers will also be able to find the most sought after northern Ohio brews at Boss ChickNBeer. The eatery partners with over 50 local breweries from Toledo to Mentor and down to Canton to offer a rotating selection of beers that changes weekly.

Boss ChickNBeer in Cuyahoga Falls

Boss ChickNBeer will be next to Clean Eatz on Front Street sometime this fall. The chicken and beer restaurant will be located in the city's recently approved DORA district, which allows pedestrians to walk around with alcoholic beverages.

More nearby restaurants:Butcher & Sprout fosters farm-to-table dining in Cuyahoga Falls | Local Flavor

The Cuyahoga Falls location will be the franchise's first in the county, and it's fourth overall. The other locations are in Bay Village, Berea and Seven Hills. The spot on Front Street will be the largest of all its locations, boasting a 24-seat outdoor patio, 48 indoor seats and a signature penny bar.

Contact Beacon Journal reporter Tawney Beans at [email protected] and on Twitter @TawneyBeans

Ohio will soon embark on removing the Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River, but first must clean up 875,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment at a cost of more than $100 million. The result will be a free-flowing river, a healthier ecosystem, improved habitats for fish and wildlife, and expanded public access for fishing and whitewater rapids for kayaking. Ohio’s collaborative funding approach could be a model for cleaning up contaminated sediments in Michigan’s Detroit and Rouge rivers.

About the Gorge Dam

Located in Gorge Metro Park on the border of Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, this 420-foot-wide and 60-foot-tall dam was built in 1911 for hydroelectric power and later provided cooling water for a coal-fired power plant. However, it is no longer functional and will be removed in 2026. Summit Metro Parks calls it the largest remaining water quality impediment on the Cuyahoga River. Removing the Gorge Dam is expected to uncover the waterfall after which Cuyahoga Falls was named.

Preparing for the dam’s removal

Before the dam can be removed, contaminated sediments must be remediated. This includes mechanically dredging 875,000 cubic yards of sediment laced with heavy metals, oil and grease, pesticides, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons from the incomplete combustion of oil and coal. These contaminants contribute to health advisories for fish consumption, are toxic to invertebrates and other aquatic life, and can limit future shoreline modifications like removing a dam.

Contaminated sediments will be scooped out using a water-tight clamshell bucket and transported by barge to a staging area where large debris will be removed. The still-wet sediment will then be pumped through a temporary pipeline to a nearby disposal site in Gorge Metro Park.

While in the pipeline, sediments will be mixed with concrete to form a more solid material that can be contoured before it is fully stabilized. Metro Park staff said the disposal area is designed to ensure permanent stabilization of sediment mounds, minimize impacts to buried utilities, and appropriately manage stormwater. After final grading is complete, sediment mounds will be capped with soil, and the area will be planted with native trees and vegetation.

Contaminated sediment remediation will happen in 2024 and 2025, followed by dam removal in 2026.

Collaborative funding is key

The Gorge Dam project is a good example of many public and private partners co-producing knowledge, co-innovating solutions, and collaboratively funding sediment remediation so the dam can be removed, habitat rehabilitated, and recreation enhanced. The estimated cost of contaminated sediment remediation in the Gorge Dam reservoir is more than $100 million, with 65% coming from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Great Lakes Legacy Act, and 35% coming from non-federal sponsors. Nonfederal sponsor contributions will be a combination of both money and in-kind support. Thus far, the State of Ohio has committed $25 million to the project and FirstEnergy has committed $10 million.

Lessons for Michigan

Michigan faces enormous challenges with the need to remediate up to 6.67 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment on the U.S. side of the Detroit River and an estimated 458,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment in the lower Rouge River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) estimate a total sediment remediation project cost of more than $900 million for the Detroit River and more than $470 million for the Rouge River.

For the Detroit River, these agencies are hopeful that more than $580 million will be covered by the U.S. EPA through the Great Lakes Legacy Act and $245 million will be covered by industrial partners, leaving approximately $75 million to cover all the likely orphaned sites.

For the Rouge River, these agencies are hopeful that over $254 million will be covered through the Great Lakes Legacy Act and $200 million will be covered by industrial partners, leaving approximately $25 million to cover all the likely orphaned sites.

In total, there is a $100 million shortfall in achieving the non-federal cost share requirements. Just as the State of Ohio provided $25 million to help make the nonfederal match requirements on contaminated sediment remediation at Gorge Dam, the State of Michigan could help make up this $100 million shortfall on the Detroit and Rouge rivers’ sediment cleanup. These funds could be provided through a “special appropriation” to Michigan EGLE over three years or by adequately funding the Renew Michigan fund – which was created in 2019 within the Michigan Department of Treasury to promote the cleanup of contaminated sites, waste management, and recycling.

Indeed, last year the Michigan Environmental Council issued a sign-on letter with support from 61 different organizations calling for Michigan Governor Whitmer and state legislators to allocate state funding through the budgetary process to help meet non-federal match funding for this sediment cleanup. However, this effort was not successful.

Another way of creatively meeting these match requirements would be to get non-federal partners to provide non-monetary project support like staging areas/real estate, landfill space, technical assistance, transportation and disposal services, source control (preventing pollutants from entering waterways), and habitat rehabilitation and enhancement.

Recently, the U.S. EPA announced an estimated $450 million sediment cleanup of the Milwaukee Estuary on Lake Michigan, representing the largest single Great Lakes Restoration Initiative investment in Great Lakes cleanup. The city of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County Parks, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, We Energies, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources contributed a combination of cash and in-kind support – donations of goods and services – to meet the $170 million non-federal match requirement.

But time is of the essence for getting federal support for cleaning up sediments in the Detroit and Rouge rivers. Only three years remain of Great Lakes Legacy Act funding. If this window of opportunity is missed, there is no guarantee that comparable federal money will be available in the future.

Contaminated sediment in the Detroit and Rouge rivers is particularly challenging. People cannot see or smell it, many contaminants were discharged long before there were environmental laws, and some of the responsible industries are no longer in business. However, passing this cleanup burden onto future generations with no likely federal funding seems unjust. Metropolitan Detroit and the State of Michigan have a once-in-a-century opportunity to resolve this contaminated sediment problem for both present and future generations.

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Featured image:Gorge Dam on the Cuyahoga River near Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (credit: Calvin Faunus/Flickr).