Asked if the city received any kind of warning that the building or parts of it might be unstable in strong winds, he said: “We did not.”
Parlette said the city handles maintenance responsibilities for the building. He said he was not aware of written inspection reports for the structure.
“Other than the asbestos stuff that happened last year, I don’t know that there was any structural review done,” he said.
The building is owned by the Montgomery County Land Bank. It was transferred to the land bank from the city of Dayton in 2022.
Paul Bradley, executive director of the Land Bank, referred most questions to Dayton city government when contacted Thursday.
But he said there is someone who “walks” the building.
“It’s not like a structural engineer,” he said. “It kind of depends on how you’re defining ‘inspected.’ They have somebody who walks it at least once a week.”
“They kind of walk the building to make sure there’s nothing obviously that’s is going on."
Parlette said he could not answer questions about who would cover the cost of repairing damage to Stratacache Tower from falling bricks.
Part of the sidewalk along Main Street just south of Second Street was closed Thursday afternoon after parts of the building facade adjacent to Stratacache Tower, 40 N. Main St., fell during strong winds this past Saturday.
Parlette said Dayton officials don’t yet have a detailed price tag or timeline for the work the building at 34 N. Main will require.
But it is the goal of Dayton government to have the building stabilized and safe by the time the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) convenes in downtown Dayton around Memorial Day weekend.
The city recently declared the situation an “emergency” for procurement purposes.
“Declaring an emergency in a situation like this enables us to act quicker with getting contracts and contract work,” Parlette said. “It’s a legal distinction, for sure, that enables us to move more nimbly and quickly.”
While city officials want pedestrians and vehicles to avoid areas that have been blocked off, the area around Second and Main near Stratacache Tower and its neighbor at 34 N. Main is not unsafe, he added.
“I’ve seen people go through the tape, and that’s not a good idea,” Parlette said. “But we feel pretty good about where we’re at in terms of stability, and the actions that we’ve taken over the last 48 hours.”
City government has been working with Dayton structural engineering firm Shell & Meyer Associates Inc. to “really substantially stabilize the existing parapet wall.”
The next steps will be executing a “layered process” recommended by engineers. Dayton has hired companies at Shell & Meyer’s recommendation for bracing and other work.
“A lot of this depends on the weather,” Parlette said. “You may realize we’re talking about 14 stories in the air, and 20-, 30-, 40-mph wind gusts over the last couple of days. So it may take a little bit longer than we like. But we feel good about where we sit today right now with the bracing that’s been done.”
The area saw strong winds Wednesday evening, and conditions were gusty downtown on Thursday afternoon.
The building’s east side has some 10 stabilizing brackets, with work ongoing to shore up remaining parapet wall bricks.
The building is ripe for redevelopment, city officials believe, but there have been no recent overtures for the property, Parlette said.
The city had been working with a developer to use historic tax credits to redevelop the building before the pandemic. That never came to fruition.
Chris Riegel, the founder and chief executive of Stratacache and owner of Stratacache Tower, said this past weekend he had no interest in buying 34 N. Main.
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