A Walk in the Park

*Originally posted 3/14/2023*

I am back again this time without a murder story luckily, anyways I had the writing itch again and instead of working on important things I will write another blog post, Yippee.

Constructed in 1909, The Park Hotel, located in Toledo Ohio, once served as a luxurious accommodation for passing travelers and businessmen. For it’s age there is surprisingly little information about this place. The original park hotel was of similar size to the Hotel Royal, which resides across the street. Sometime later the hotel was expanded to extend along Wade Street, more than doubling the hotel in size. In it's heyday the hotel also featured a bar, and a restaurant.

The original Park Hotel.

The Park Hotel was constructed just a stone throw away from the Union Station in Toledo. Before the automobile anyone with a brain or money traveled between Chicago and New York by train, Toledo served as a stopover for many on this route by train. With the invention of the automobile and interstate highway system, Union Station and in turn the Park Hotel began seeing less and less occupants throughout the end of the 20th century.

Union Station.

The Park Hotel shortly before closure, source.

With most choosing to travel by car and the addition of sleeper cars to the Lake Shore Limited route, the Park Hotel went from a place to rest your head for the night to a prostitute palace. In 2001 the hotel's heavily dated heating system gave out causing the owners to walk away leaving the hotel abandoned for 22 years.

The heating system in question:

Now on to the best or worst part, My story, I initially went here with relatives that live in Toledo a while back (IDK the exact date all my images before 2018 have messed up dates or got corrupted)

The Park Hotel during my first visit.

The place was a total dump and we couldn’t really find a way inside that didn’t involve squeezing through a mouse hole, also some dude came up to us and started questioning us on what we were doing.

Peeky Peeky.

Fast forward to October of 2022 and I am visiting a friend and now fellow explorer who lives in the Glass City. We decided to go look for something to explore and I mentioned the Park Hotel, I knew that it was pretty well sealed ahead of time but figured it might have changed.

Upon arrival, too nobody’s surprise, the place was indeed sealed almost completely. We initially thought we had found a way in but it was going to involve climbing through a missing brick in front of a busy street.

We were just about to leave when I noticed a board laying across part of the sidewalk. This board turned out to be covering a one story drop into the basement below (A total lawsuit waiting to happen).

Upon peering down the hell hole I noticed that we could drop down and land on two milk crates stacked on a broken chair allowing us to climb in and out of the hotel.

The Ankle Breaker 9000.

After a very white knuckled climb down we found ourselves in the sub level of the hotel where the heating system was. We were walking through the pitch black hallway trying to use our puny phone flashlights to see when I remembered I left the good flashlights in the car. My friend volunteered to run back to the car and grab them while I found an area with sunlight to wait for his return.

The Asbestos Dungeon.

Despite my dread and unease as I stared at piles of every toxic chemical known to man the explore was alright, the temp was nice and chilly as we wandered around the soggy halls, taking in the history of the place.

At one point a bat flew at my friend and I watched his soul leave his body only to be dragged back by my laughter.

Standard hotel room.

In 2022 It was planned to renovate the site to serve as transitional housing for youth exiting the foster system. However the building had fallen into such disrepair that the plans quickly fell through.

Some sort of bar.

Computer.

In 2023 the plans to convert the site into transitional housing were re-started, however this time the Park Hotel was to be completely demolished and a new facility was to be built on top of the old site.