Today, to keep the Dayton region strong in uncertain times, we challenge a new generation of leaders to swing for the fences.
Credit: Submitted Photo
Credit: Submitted Photo
Dayton Dragons
This Tuesday, the Dayton Dragons began their 25th season.
With a sellout streak that remains the best in professional sports and more than $3 billion of downtown investment that can be traced to the team’s presence, it would be hard to describe the Dayton Dragons as anything other than an unmitigated success.
But the initial proposal wasn’t warmly received. Last Sunday, the Dayton Daily News collected stories from many of the community leaders who helped turn the vision into a reality.
“There were a lot of skeptics,” said Anthony Capizzi, a former Montgomery County Juvenile Court judge who was among the first to advocate for a Minor League team while serving on Dayton City Commission. “In fact, 80% of people were skeptics.”
Robert Murphy, Dragons’ president since the team’s inception, described the cynicism surrounding the proposed downtown location – often from critics who hadn’t visited downtown in years.
“The general perception was that it was unsafe,” he said. “When I looked at this site, it was clearly, at that point in time, probably the worst part of town.”
The Water Street neighborhood that surrounds Day Air Ballpark today, with new condominiums, hotels, bars and restaurants, is a testament to its continued success.
RiverScape MetroPark
Just a year after the opening of the Dragons stadium – and only a baseball’s throw away – a new facility was taking shape at the site of Van Cleve Park along the river.
“It was not in Marvin’s nature to be satisfied with ‘what is,‘” said retired Five Rivers MetroParks director of conservation Dave Nolin when asked about the legacy of Marvin Olinksky. “He had a lot of ideas that were truly visionary, and he also knew how to raise money and talk people into stuff.”
Five Rivers MetroParks, then led by Olinsky, along with Montgomery County, the Downtown Dayton Partnership, the city of Dayton, the Miami Conservancy District and Dayton RTA were the project partners for RiverScape MetroPark, along with business backing from nine surrounding communities.
“RiverScape was the beginning of hope for a vibrant center of our region,” said Carrie Scarff, Five Rivers MetroParks’ chief planner. “This was going to be the beginning of something gorgeous, vibrant and contagious.”
A focal point of RiverScape is the Five Rivers Fountain of Lights, one of the largest fountains in the world. The five streams of water symbolize our region’s five rivers and meet in a central fountain that represents the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer, one of the nation’s largest aquifers and the source of the fountain’s water.
“It was virtually impossible to get down to the river,” said Sandra Gudorf, then-president of the Downtown Dayton partnership. “There was a burning desire from our community to make better use of the river.”
RiverScape helped connect pedestrians and cyclists to an extensive network of bike trails that converged downtown at RiverScape by creating pathways up and down the imposing levee system downtown.
“The riverfront development was an impetus for continued economic growth and development in our downtown,” Gudorf said.
More than a century of protection
Those imposing levees might pose a challenge to riverfront development, but they’ve proven to be a capable defense against disaster – and a daily reminder of the power of collective action and community leadership.
This past week, a series of storms and heavy rain threatened Midwestern and Southern states with high water levels and flooding that have killed at least 20 people.
“We are in full flood response mode,” said MaryLynn Lodor, general manager at Miami Conservancy District. “Our team is working around the clock to monitor the conditions of dams, levees, and river and groundwater levels. The system provides protection across the region, and it is performing as designed.”
That impressive system was designed to manage a storm the size of the Great 1913 Flood, plus another 40%. The Great Flood of 1913 remains the worst natural catastrophe in the history of Ohio, killing hundreds, displacing thousands and causing property damage exceeding $100 million (more than $2 billion today).
In February 1914, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Conservancy Act of Ohio. The act allowed the creation of regional agencies to provide flood protection for communities within the state. Governor James Cox, owner of the Dayton Daily News, signed it into law.
More than 23,000 Daytonians contributed to begin a comprehensive flood protection program that would go on to become the Miami Conservancy District.
“Whatever the problems of the Miami Valley and its people will be in the future, floods will not be one of them,” wrote Edward A. Deeds, who served on the MCD Board of Directors from its inception in 1915 through 1954. “But I hope the lessons learned in those harrowing days of the flood itself and in the years which followed will never be forgotten. For they teach far more than how to bridle angry waters... they provide at least one example of what men and women can accomplish when they work together with unconquerable spirit toward a common goal.”
Troubled waters ahead?
These are only three examples of some of the transformative projects that have helped define the Dayton we know today. The future success of our city, however, is far from certain.
“A lot of businesses in this town are a week, two weeks away from not existing anymore,” said Nikki Stargel, vice president of the Oregon District Business Association, at a recent event for downtown small business owners.
A number of downtown businesses have closed, and offices continue to struggle to adapt to a post-COVID work environment. The Central Business District’s vacancy rate increased to 28.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 from 28.2% in the prior quarter. Class A properties in downtown experienced the highest vacancy rates, reaching 42.9%.
Still, greater downtown Dayton saw $400 million in new investment last year, which was the highest tally in recent history, and last year welcomed several hundred new apartment units and 28 new businesses, and visitor traffic inched up and has nearly rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Downtown Dayton Partnership.
Recent market volatility surrounding proposed tariffs and the threat of a global trade war could also change the economic outlook for both downtown and our region.
The future is up to you
In uncertain times, we know we can count on the resilience and innovation of our city’s residents.
Through floods, tornadoes, pandemics and more – Daytonians time and time again have demonstrated the “unconquerable spirit” Edward Deeds wrote about nearly a century ago.
That legacy can only continue with your participation. If you have a solution for a pressing community concern, write a guest column for our Ideas & Voices section. Volunteer for an organization you care about. Exercise your rights through peaceful demonstration. And, most importantly, vote.
Local elections, even during an off-year, can still be incredibly impactful to you and your community. All three of the projects described above relied in large part on elected officials following through on the desires of those who elected them.
Dayton is holding a runoff election on May 6 to narrow the field of city commission candidates from five to four, and the top four vote-getters will compete for two commission seats in the November general election.
In the May primary, you will also be able to vote for or against Issue 2. Through an amendment to Ohio’s constitution, Issue 2 would give Ohio the power to issue $2.5 billion in bonds for the construction and repair of bridges, roads, water systems and other projects through a program called the State Capital Improvement Program.
To our area’s voters, elected officials and candidates: Swing for the fences.
Be bold, Dayton. It’s in your nature.