Dayton Gives African American Landmark 30 More Days
By Margaret Foster | From Preservation | Apr. 4, 2007
The city, unable to reach the owner of the WCA buiding for decades,
plans to tear it down.
Dayton, Ohio, home of the Wright Brothers and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, has been in the spotlight this month because the University of Dayton plans to tear down a building where National CR staff invented a code-breaking machine that helped win World War II.
In the meantime, a small, run-down structure built in 1893 faces demolition in a matter of weeks. On Mar. 15, Dayton's Landmark Commission granted a 30-day stay of demolition in case anyone wants to restore the former headquarters of the Women's Christian Association, which six African American women founded in March 1909.
"It was a stay of making final decision to allow som to come forward and be a champion and take it over," says Robert Ruzinsky, commission chair. "I thought it was important to give one last push before you take it down."
The National Register-listed Women's Christian Association building, used by black women who were refused membership to the YWCA, has been deteriorating since it closed in 1973. Unable to reach the private owner since the 1970s, the city applied for a demolition permit. "It's kind of in legal limbo," Ruzinsky says.
As far as the building's condition, Ruzinsky says, "I've seen worse."
"It's a shame to see it lost, paricularly in light of all the other buildings that have been lost in West Dayton," says Anthony Smith, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, who attended the Mar. 16 meeting. "This was a place for community activism, these African American women really taking a leadership role in their community."
If someone steps forward in the next few days, the city will grant them more time to come up with a restoration plan. "If there is any interest expressed, and there hasn't been yet, there would be an additional 60 days," says Craig Southerington, commission secretary, citing last month's motion.
However, if no one offers to restore the building by Apr. 15, the commission is set to approve the city's demolition request at its next meeting on Apr. 26.
"Legally they could take it down the very next day," Ruzinsky says. "Typically it's a pretty slow process. The building could be up another three to six months."
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