City may raze site tied to Wrights

@@facebook=

@@

Two Dayton buildings tied to the National Register of Historic Places have been declared public nuisances and are gradually heading toward demolition, with public meetings scheduled on both this week.

The former Gem City Ice Cream building at 1005 W. Third St. has created significant interest because it was built around the first Wright brothers bicycle shop.

Michael Perkins, a Wright-Dunbar neighborhood resident, hopes to save the building, saying it is one of the few remaining Wright brothers-related structures in the West Third corridor. Others have been demolished or relocated to Michigan.

City Planner Roane Smothers confirmed that three walls of the original two-story bicycle shop that the Wrights ran in 1892 are still standing inside the current structure.

But Assistant City Manager Shelley Dickstein said that when the building was reviewed for inclusion on the National Register years ago, there wasn’t enough “historic integrity” to get it designated as a Wright site. It was eventually included on the National Register not by itself, but as a “contributing structure” to the larger West Third Street Historic District.

Perkins said the floors and walls of the building are in good shape, but the front façade is missing. He said he has talked to a monument company and a brick supplier who can match the 1892 façade based on historic photos.

“It’s remarkably intact,” Perkins said. “When Gem City Ice Cream expanded, what had been an exterior wall became an interior wall that was protected. ... I’m hoping the city realizes that there’s no need to demolish this without investigating alternatives. We’ve got a great plan and great support. ... We can’t afford to keep losing these buildings.”

Dickstein said the city has met with Perkins about his concerns, but has been unable to find a developer or historic agency to finance the redevelopment of the property. She said today’s meeting is the first step in an 18-month process before any demolition would take place.

“We have been working since at least 2008 with various developers, and at this point, we haven’t found a developer to put together a financeable plan to support,” Dickstein said. “At some point in time, we have to determine economic viability versus historic preservation. The building is a blighting influence on the neighborhood, and as the property owner, we feel responsible for clearing the blight.”

The meeting on the Gem City building will be 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 1100 West Third Street in Dayton.

Odd Fellows Lodge

Two miles to the east is the former Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge at 8 La Belle St. in St. Anne’s Hill – a building that holds its own individual spot on the National Register.

The lodge, a 3½ story brick structure built in 1911, has also been declared a nuisance because of a damaged roof, unsound floors and stairs, and years of water damage, according to city of Dayton documents. The city’s Landmark Commission will discuss demolition plans at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

The Odd Fellows Lodge, designed by former Dayton City Commissioner Luther Peters, has been “mostly vacant” for almost 30 years, according to city documents.