History of The Delco (Mendelson) Building: Early Delco in Dayton

With the recent news that Sandy Mendelson has sold the massive building that has long housed his liquidation outlet, we’re going to take a look at the history of the structure since no news reports appear to have mentioned it.

Crawford Hoying, who along with Woodard have led the transformation of the surrounding area into the Water Street district, is the purchaser.

The plan a $100 mixed-use redevelopment that is even larger than the Arcade in size.

And it certainly makes sense that the developers behind the Delco Lofts are doing this one too, as the two structures were the first two factories of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, better known as Delco.

History of Delco in Dayton

Delco’s first plant, which was renovated into luxury apartments and the Lock 27 brewery and restaurant in 2017, was built in 1912 at a time when it needed production space — and fast.

The company, which started with NCR workers Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds tinkering in Deeds’ barn with friends and colleagues, had received a major order from Cadillac in 1911 for twelve thousand electric starters, Kettering’s signature invention.

Delco lacked the capacity to manufacture the starters, and they first leased space in the Beaver Power Building at 4th and St. Clair which had been constructed the previous year. (This building still stands and today is the St. Clair lofts apartments.)

Almost immediately, Delco needed even more production space, and they worked with Fred Beaver, who was in the process of building another industrial building at 329 East First Street, to modify the loft to suit Delco’s needs.

This structure was known as Delco Plant #1, and today the Delco Lofts.

Delco’s Other Prominent Surviving Factory

Delco Plant #2, today known as the Mendelson Building, was constructed in 1915 at a time when Delco was expanding rapidly.

It had grown from 12 employees to 1,200 in the space of a couple of years. The new building was seven stories and 200,000 square feet, and built on the site of the Swaynie House hotel, which we covered in a previous article.

Both of these factories would be abandoned by Delco by the early 1980s and purchased by Mendelson.

Delco Plant #3, which was even larger in size, was demolished in 1981 and the Dayton Dragons stadium (long known as Fifth Third Field but currently Day Air Ballpark) was built on the same site two decades later.

But the fact that Delco’s most important early industrial facilities survive to this day is a stark contrast to the fate of NCR, where all of the buildings constructed during John H. Patterson’s lifetime have been demolished. (Some later NCR buildings do survive.)

This aerial shows the Delco complex including Plant #2/Mendelson’s with the water tower, Plant #1/Delco Lofts directly above it, and demolished Plant #3 as the long building to the upper-right, today the baseball field.

The same area in the modern era (although you can see the Delco Lofts are pre-renovation)

If you’re interested in more, I also have a whole chapter on Delco and its enduring legacy in my book Lost Dayton, Ohio.