Lately, the fate of the Gem City Ice Cream Building has been in flux.
In recent months it was targeted for demolition by the city, given a reprieve by the Landmarks Commission which denied the request, then dealt another blow by a Board of Zoning Appeals decision that demolition can indeed move forward.
Now there’s a new update to the saga: a local computer organization is interested in helping save the historic structure.
The Dayton Microcomputer Association (DMA) is looking for a site to establish a computer museum, and the Gem City Ice Cream Building is their preferred location.
Peter Hess, member of the Board of Trustees of the DMA, shared the idea with Dayton Vistas. He was asked by fellow board members to pursue either the Gem City Ice Cream Building or another appropriate location for their museum.
Hess noted that the organization has seed money available for the project.
The museum would display the group’s exhibit collection, which dates back prior to 1957, and also include a computer training classroom. Currently, the DMA’s traveling museum exhibits are stored in at least 6 different residences.
The group’s other ideas for the site reveal a desire to benefit the larger community.
These include a WiFi network focused outside of the building to provide internet access for people who need it. Hess noted that many students have to park outside their school or a fast-food restaurant just to do their homework, and this community service would be another option for those who lack a reliable connection.
Another goal is to rebuild the fenced-in area adjacent to Sweetman Ave and turn it into a basketball court available to the entire community.
The Dayton Microcomputer Association is a 45-year-old, volunteer-led nonprofit dedicated to sharing knowledge about computers and all aspects of technology. Its meetings are free and open to the public and the DMA also awards a yearly scholarship to a student pursuing a major in a computer-related field. It has also been involved in many community projects over the years ranging from events to technology access programs.
In some ways, the movement to save the Gem City Ice Cream Building recalls an earlier preservation effort from decades past: preventing the Victoria (Victory) Theater from becoming a parking lot in the 1970s.
And Hess himself was a central figure in the theater effort which ultimately was successful.
“I am personally interested in reviving and reusing historic buildings” he says. The Victoria Theatre was the first of at least four theatres which he helped save or revive.
But the present effort may be one of the most difficult of the lot, as the question of whether the Gem City Ice Cream building is beyond saving has generated much debate.
Hess has reached out to neighborhood business owners and other stakeholders who are concerned about the prolonged inaction on the deteriorating building and its current hazardous state. He says the response has been positive should the project move forward.
The Wright-Dunbar Village Neighborhood Association has previously come out in support of demolition of the building “as it is today” but that they “fully support a redevelopment with ‘nods to the historical significance’ of the site.”
Although the DMA does have funds available for the museum project, Hess stresses that “we will need community participation” in order to make it happen.
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