Shopping plaza was being planned

Thirty years ago this week, The Commercial Review published a story on the plans to build a new shopping plaza in Portland. The building, Portland Shoppes on the southeast corner of Meridian and Votaw Street, still stands today.

The 0.64-acre, triangle-shaped plot was owned by Shilimar Corp., a local group of investors at the time, and the property was a purchase and joint venture by Ann Burns Realty, from Greenville, Ohio, and Fiesta Realty Corporation, Columbus, Ohio. 

Before the shopping center was built, the property was the site of the Portland Lions Club display board and Edwards Motors, a used auto sales agent at 601 N. Meridian St. 

A maximum of six businesses could occupy the planned plaza, providing 30 to 40 jobs, and the first tenant to sign a lease was Subway Sandwiches and Salads. With the name now shortened to simply Subway, the restaurant still occupies the north end of the building. 

Spokesperson for Portland Shoppes Partners Ralph Standley, called the project “a real service to Portland, a real appeal to developers, the kind of things that might make a tenant (a prospective business for the plaza) come here.”

Standley presented the plan to Portland Area Chamber of Commerce with encouragement from Jay County Development Cooperation and then Mayor Jim Luginbill. 

Standley called the project “a golden opportunity.”