We’ve already looked at before and after shots of demolitions that have taken place in the Streetview era (2007-2018), focusing on some downtown buildings, Old North Dayton’s former commercial center, and few others scattered throughout various Dayton neighborhoods. But those sites are only the tip of the iceberg as far as the architectural heritage Dayton is losing even in recent years when redevelopment is accelerating elsewhere. In most cases, downtown is getting the most attention and development while the neighborhoods continue to suffer from disinvestment, which leads to vacancy and deterioration. Here are some buildings we’ve lost on the east end of Dayton, with Streetview before and afters so you can zoom in and out and flip the view around to see the surroundings.
The Wyoming Theater at 736 Wyoming St. was built in 1914 by Albert Staehlin. It was quickly sold to Gus Kinzeler who turned it into a popular theater for about 10 years before selling to Samuel Crumbaugh in 1925. That proved to be a good move for Kinzeler a few years later when full-length talking pictures arrived, causing smaller neighborhood silent theaters like this to decline significantly. The Wyoming Theater only survived until 1929. A few years later it was turned into a restaurant and tavern, which it would remain for decades under various names and owners. It finally closed for good in 1983. In 1997 it was reportedly being used for storage by one of the owners. A member on Cinema Treasures reported that “the roof finally collapsed by May of 2012 and they hauled her off by October 2013.”
Then
Now
The Odd Fellows Hall (or Lodge) at 6 (or 8) Labelle Street was a major structure in a St. Anne’s Hill neighborhood that has retained much of its density. It was built in 1911 and has been described as “strongly horizontal through the use of different materials and color. It has segmental archway entrances, a high water table, and a boxed cornice with a decorative dentiled frieze and string brick course at the soffit. Some verticality is stressed by the elongated windows and the projecting end pavilions.”
The building was owned by Dayton Lodge #273 until it was sold in 1982. A series of owners in subsequent years did little to maintain the property, and it was soon in very poor shape. In 2010 the St. Anne’s Hill blog encouraged some enterprising investor to acquire the hall through Dayton’s Lot Links program, as by that time the property owner owed over $55,000 in delinquent property taxes. Unfortunately, no one rose to the challenge, and the Dayton Landmarks Commission approved its demolition in 2012, which was accomplished in summer of 2014 as part of the city’s Nuisance Abatement program. At that time the St. Anne’s Hill blog reported that “although the building has been abandoned for nearly a decade, the fate of the structure was sealed when one of the main roof trusses collapsed and threatened the integrity and stability of the structure.” The St. Anne’s Hill Historic Society was “extremely disappointed that the building could not be saved, despite the efforts of many people over the years, but nevertheless supports the City’s effort to protect the health and safety of the community. The adjacent property owners were facing considerable danger from falling bricks and portions of the roof, as well as an unknown quantity of asbestos.”
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Now
Lost buildings on the 2500 block of E Fifth St, looking very similar to the corner a few blocks west where Gem City Catfe is located.
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Now
Similar corner seeing redevelopment today, with the building on the left housing Harry’s Collection; the building to its right that was being renovated as St. Anne the Tart until that project moved across the street; the old Anticoli’s restaurant partially covered by ivy; and the Gem City Catfe peeking out in green. The vacant lot in the middle was a house; it’s visible in the oldest Streetview shot in Google Maps:
Franklin School #1 (to the right) at 2617 E Fifth St near Findlay St, built in 1890.
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Now
Commercial block on E Third St, likely lost to fire
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Now
Dammit. Thanks for keeping tabs.