On this site I’ve written a variety of articles about the Dayton Arcade as it has worked its way through an inspiring redevelopment, including a new Arcade history guide that breaks down its past and current status in detail.
But today I will look at just one particular aspect of the Arcade: its grand entrance on Third Street and how it has looked over the years since it first opened in 1904.
The Flemish-style structure was designed by architect Frank Mills Andrews who also designed the Conover Building just down the street at Third and Main and most of NCR’s buildings. It is faced with Flemish bond brick and trimmings of Bedford cut stone.
Originally the Arcade consisted of just four buildings, this one on Third Street, the Ludlow Street and Fourth Street Buildings, and the Grand Rotunda in the center which was originally a 200-stall market house.
The walkway spanning the block and connecting both streets to the central rotunda has always been a major part of what makes the Arcade special.
Originally the Third Street entrance was left open to the elements as doors wouldn’t be installed inside the grand until many years later.
The Arcade would experience a disaster less than a decade after its 1904 grand opening, however, when the Great Flood of 1913 hit. The following image shows floodwaters on Third Street in front of the Arcade.
It would recover from the flood, but then experience more ups and downs in the subsequent decades, declining significantly with the opening of suburban shopping malls.
In 1980, the Arcade reopened after $15 million renovation project known as Arcade Square which involved the rotunda and Third Street entrance. This image shows shoppers walking to the Arcade in 1983.
The Arcade officially closed on March 30, 1991. The following image shows the Third Street entrance around 15 years later in 2007, the same year that utilities were shut off due to non-payment of taxes.
The complex had also recently been listed on eBay by then-owner Tony Staub, and a group known as Friends of the Arcade was also formed to advocate for its preservation and redevelopment.
A little more than a decade later in 2018, while the present redevelopment led by Cross Street Partners was picking up steam (and financing sources), a 40-foot-long “Sleeping Giant” mural went up in the Third Street entrance, who was “a metaphor for the Arcade’s long sleep and eventual awakening.”
Today, the Hilton Garden Inn hotel is open at the Arcade, and major construction on the Third Street Building is completed, while retail tenants in the walkway are gearing up to open in 2026.
We will finish with images of the Third Street Building in late 2025, both during the day and lit up (in holiday colors) at night.
I truly enjoy these articles along with the pictures. I lived in the area for many years and volunteered downtown for a 10 of them. I loved downtown Dayton since I was a small child. My mother worked at a photography studio on 3rd street for years and I can still remember the smell of developer when the door opened. She and I would get lunch at either Simple Simons or the old Biltmore Hotel. Great memories.