The potential redevelopment of the site around the former Zion Baptist Church has the potential to significantly enhance the gateway to the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, a key connection between downtown and West Dayton. But there's another site in between that corner and … [Read more...] about West Side Chevy Building: Will San Marco Adaptive Reuse Move Forward?
Historic Preservation in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton has lost a staggering portion of its historic built environment through a variety of circumstances from large-scale urban renewal to "demolition by neglect."
Nevertheless, a number of exciting adaptive reuse and restoration projects in recent years, from historic homes to the massive Dayton Arcade, are helping to revive many previously vacant and endangered properties.
To see all of the articles we've published that relate to the preservation of historic Dayton buildings, click the links below.
Historic Church Redevelopment Could Shape Wright-Dunbar’s Future
I've been covering the ongoing redevelopment in and around the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, located just across the Third Street Peace Bridge, a $17 million project that opened in late 2021. There is a 17-foot wide multi-use trail on the bridge, but right across it at the … [Read more...] about Historic Church Redevelopment Could Shape Wright-Dunbar’s Future
Dayton Fairgrounds Redevelopment: The Historic Roundhouse and the OnMain Development
Redevelopment of the former Montgomery County Fairgrounds has slowly shifted from planning and fundraising toward visible construction. The 38-acre site along South Main Street is now being developed as onMain, a long-term partnership between the University of Dayton and … [Read more...] about Dayton Fairgrounds Redevelopment: The Historic Roundhouse and the OnMain Development
Three Historic Buildings Lost in Dayton in 2025
Several notable buildings disappeared from Dayton’s landscape in 2025. In Episode 2 of the Dayton Vistas Podcast, I cover three structures that are different in almost every way, but each represents a piece of how Dayton grew and changed over time. They weren't … [Read more...] about Three Historic Buildings Lost in Dayton in 2025
The Santa Clara Business District: History, Preservation, and Recent Fire
The Santa Clara Business District is one of the most intact early neighborhood commercial strips left in Dayton, but has suffered through decades of disinvestment and faces an uncertain future. This article pulls together its early history as well as more recent … [Read more...] about The Santa Clara Business District: History, Preservation, and Recent Fire
Centre City Building (The Mainline) Redevelopment Overview
With the Dayton Arcade’s major construction largely complete, attention is shifting just across Main Street to another huge structure that has sat vacant for years. Few buildings have generated as much long-running curiosity, or frustration, as the Centre City Building, … [Read more...] about Centre City Building (The Mainline) Redevelopment Overview
Fidelity Building and Paru Tower: History and What’s Happening Now?
Original article posted 11/27/2024 It's been over five years since I wrote an article about what major downtown site could be next after the Dayton Arcade redevelopment had officially gotten underway. Today, of course, the Arcade's first phase has been a success and … [Read more...] about Fidelity Building and Paru Tower: History and What’s Happening Now?
Masonic Temple (Dayton Masonic Center) History
I recently wrote about the former Oddfellows Hall downtown, but there's another fraternal organization in the area with a much larger membership, the Freemasons. And compared to Oddfellows temple that is unrecognizable from what it once was, Dayton's Masonic Temple (now … [Read more...] about Masonic Temple (Dayton Masonic Center) History
Wright Company Factory History
I've written a couple of articles and recorded a video about the Wright Brothers including where in Dayton they lived and where they had their print and bike shops. Sadly there are very few locations that still stand in their original location. But there is another … [Read more...] about Wright Company Factory History
Where Was the Wright Brothers Bike Shop in Dayton?
My last article covered where the Wright Brothers lived in Dayton. This one will highlight the places in town where they worked to turn their revolutionary ideas into the invention of powered flight. Because the brothers made and repaired bicycles before focusing on … [Read more...] about Where Was the Wright Brothers Bike Shop in Dayton?