Preservation Dayton, a longstanding organization which already has a track record of success for local historic preservation, is stepping up its efforts with a new initiative, the Endangered Properties Fund.
Each year, a committee selects a list of the city’s ten most endangered properties, and now a fundraising component through tax deductible donations aims to “proactively stabilize and/or obtain control of these properties to prevent them from being lost forever.”
The organization is currently taking nominations until March 31 for its Most Endangered Properties list. In order to qualify, the property should be at least 50 years old and demonstrate one of the following characteristics of significance:
- be associated with individuals, groups, events, or trends that have made a significant contribution to Dayton’s history
- retain distinctive features of a type, period or method of construction; or represent exceptional work of an architect(s) or craftsmen, or possesses high architectural or artistic value
- retain its historic integrity exhibited by its location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, association
With such a wide variety of vacant or neglected buildings all around Dayton, choosing just a few to prioritize is not an easy task.
Many have nominated residential properties, including the long neglected Traxler Mansion and the Pretzinger House. I certainly agree with those selections, as Dayton has lost far too many of its significant historic homes and many more survive in a precarious state.
But to me the situation is far more dire for Dayton’s 19th and early 20th century commercial architecture, a building type that itself could be called endangered outside of a couple small areas of town.
In the middle of the 20th century as Daytonians increasingly moved to suburban areas and did their shopping there, countless beautiful old commercial structures downtown and in the older city neighborhoods met the wrecking ball.
In some cases entire bustling blocks were leveled for urban renewal projects. In others, retail stores closed down, no one else moved in, and their buildings suffered the gradual demise of demolition by neglect.
We may have learned the errors of our approach to large-scale urban renewal in the 50s and 60s, but old commercial blocks continue to get bulldozed without a second thought today.
Just last year Preservation Dayton lamented the loss of the old Becker’s Market building at 860 Brown Street, which had been the only survivor from what was once a dense commercial area.
Entire blocks of Brown have been razed by Miami Valley Hospital in recent years, and the situation has repeated itself in other areas of Dayton. On the west side, the once thriving “Nickel” entertainment district is almost entirely vacant land, with its buildings coming down gradually starting in the 1960s.
Because commercial buildings are mixed-use in nature with apartments or office spaces above ground floor retail storefronts, any vacant structure that is saved can make a big difference in the health and vitality of our neighborhoods.
So if you are planning to nominate a property for the Preservation Dayton list, I hope you might consider a building like this. You can fill out the form here
If you’re looking for suggestions, here are some of my selections.
Flatiron Building (1896), North Main Street and Forest Ave
To me this is the most iconic neighborhood commercial structure in Dayton.
The author of the website Daytonology called it “one of Dayton’s urban set-pieces, an imposing flat-iron commercial building with the corner articulated by a tower.”
Others have referred to it Dayton’s own version of New York City’s legendary triangular Flatiron Building and it’s difficult to picture this part of the city without the structure that so perfectly and attractively fills its available space.
The building was constructed in 1896 by Charles F. Smith and quickly became the signature image of the Riverdale neighborhood.
It was also one of the area’s most popular destinations for a wide variety of purposes. Smith operated multiple businesses of his own including a saloon and grocery and also rented storerooms out to others. He was even listed at the address as a sewer contractor in the early 1900s and won a contract to install thousands of feet of sanitary sewers in Riverdale. Apartments were located on the upper floors.
Confectioners were also a mainstay in the Flatiron Building. In 1910 it was the Riverdale Confectionery, which also sold cigars, and years later one could shop at the Leo Eggers Confectionery.
By the late 1980s, the building was occupied by a wood carver. Later it became abandoned like its neighbor across the street, the mission-style Fire Station #14 built in 1899.
The interplay between these two landmark buildings allows the type of street-level experience all but extinct in most of north and west Dayton, where vacant lots and suburban-style convenience stores surrounded by parking are found at most prominent intersections.
In fact, just head south on North Main from here and you’ll find Family Dollar parking lot and two empty grassy lots at the intersection with Helena Street.
Preserving the Flatiron Building at Main and Forest also will help connect the remaining historic architecture on North Main closer to downtown and another group of buildings a few blocks to its north, which make up my next nomination.
Santa Clara Business District, North Main from Ridge to Marathon Ave
The business district located on North Main near Santa Clara Ave is surprisingly intact.
Outside of 5th Street in the Oregon and 3rd Street in Wright-Dunbar, Dayton doesn’t have a historic neighborhood business strip with this level of density remaining–after so many were lost to highways, planned renewal, or piecemeal demolition by neglect–so losing these structures would be a major loss.
These districts were once ubiquitous throughout the city, but from West Fifth Street to Troy & Valley to Brown & Warren, planned renewal projects or decades of neglect have resulted in their disappearance.
Read my full history of the Santa Clara district to learn more about these interesting buildings, which are one and two story commercial buildings built in the area during the “Roaring 20s.”
Perhaps nomination and support for the Endangered Properties Fund can help make the preservation of this district a reality.
Sources: Dayton Herald, Dayton Daily News, Dayton History Books Online, When Dayton Went to the Movies (Curt Dalton), Urban Ohio, Dayton Most Metro
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