Toledo Tales

Left: Rebirth in death for Southwyck?

(Toledo, OH) Larry Dillin, developer of the Town Center at Levis Commons shopping center in Perrysburg, met with Toledo Tales reporters today to disclose details of his plans for redevelopment of the 59-acre Southwyck shopping center.

Called "Southwyck Memorial Gardens," the new center will feature a crematorium, two funeral homes, and room for up to 40,000 burial plots.

"We figured that, given Southwyck's reputation as a retail morgue, we would stick with exisiting public perceptions," said Dillin. "This will allow us to avoid spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing campaigns."

Dillin, who is the president of Dillin Development Corp., said that he was excited about the potential in the new project.

"Let's face it - Toledo is a dying city, and the death business is one of the few growth sectors in the area," he said. "Turning the dead mall into a full-service "termination station" is just good business."

One of the most impotant features of the project, said Dillin, is the development of high-end mausoleums.

"Today's upscale dead people do not want just a 3' x 9' patch of turf and a chunk of marble over their heads," he said. "They've got to have a palace to mirror the 14,000 square foot suburban estate they worked themselves into a heart attack over. And we, at Dillin Development, are happy to take their cash." Porter Goss