Moment in Time (originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication April 19, 2017)

Aladdin Country Club in Marble Cliff. This aerial photo was taken in the late 1950s, looking east, and shows the former site of the Aladdin (Arlington) Country Club at the lower right. The club started in 1895 as a riding club, and later developed a 4-hole golf course on the site. It expanded to nine holes and operated until 1925. The clubhouse was located at the base of the curved entrance road. At the left side of the photo is the mansion known as the Casparis Castle. The main Scottish-style house is flanked by a carriage house with a 5-story tower attached. It was built by Marble Cliff resident and Marble Cliff Quarry owner Sylvio Casparis in 1908. The site was developed by Ron Pizzuti as 10 Arlington Place (because the mansion was on Plat #10 of the Arlington Place subdivision) in the early 1980s. The street above the country club site is Arlington Avenue. In the center of the photo on the east side of Arlington Ave. is the complex built by Columbus brewer Carl Hoster, and at the upper right is the sanctuary of First Community Church, before the expansion increased its footprint along Cambridge Blvd.