West 3rd and South Main Streets
Dayton, Ohio
The second enclosed shopping gallery in Ohio was built in the "Gem City." It followed an earlier complex completed, in Cleveland, in 1890. The DAYTON ARCADE was developed on a 3.7-acre downtown Dayton plot. Construction commenced in 1902.
Existing structures, such as the 3rd Street Presbyterian Church, Kuhns Building and Phillips Hotel, were worked into a 4-level (250,000 square foot) retail, office and residential complex.
The ARCADE was envisaged by E.J. Barney and Michael J. Gibbons and designed by Frank Mills Andrews and the firm of Schenck & Williams. It consisted of a 2-level, glass-covered corridor, which extended from a Main Entrance on 3rd Street to a glass-enclosed Rotunda. This edifice was 70 feet high and 90 feet in diameter.
The Main Entrance of the ARCADE was patterned after an Amsterdam guild hall. The dome of the Rotunda was decorated with depictions of fruits and vegetables indigenous to Ohio, as well as acorns and ram's heads. Each framing member of the dome structure was accented by a large turkey.
On both sides of the 3rd Street (Glass Hallway) corridor was a single-level block of retail shops. Above the western block were 4-levels of apartments; the eastern block was topped by 3 residential levels. Surrounding the Rotunda was a ground floor of retail and restaurant space, with a 2-level Gallery of office and apartment spaces ringing the area.
The ARCADE was appointed with all of the latest 20th century conveniences. These included elevators, central heating, a power plant and lower level cold storage area. An official dedication took place on March 3, 1904. As part of the festivities, animals were brought in from the Cincinnati Zoo.
The Arcade Market occupied area beneath the Rotunda. It encompassed fourteen stalls for meat, seven for dairy, two for fish & oyster and 180 for produce and vegetables. An Arcade Market grand opening was held on March 19, 1904. Charter merchants included Arcade Tea & Coffee House, Ed & Leo Focke's Grocery, Vince's Fruit Shop and Disher's Delicatessen.
Office buildings were built on the ARCADE block that connected into the complex. The Commercial Building, on the southwest corner, was completed in 1909. The Miami Savings Bank Building (later known as the Lindsey Building) opened in 1917.
A 3-level (23,000 square foot) J.G. McCrory 5 & 10 began business on December 10, 1924. This was also the year that the 3rd Street Presbyterian Church, on the northwest corner of the site, was demolished and replaced with an office building. A Dayton-based Liberal supermarket opened, on the ground floor, on May 7, 1951.
By the 1960s, suburban shopping centers were usurping the ARCADE. Its glass roofs, which had started to leak, were covered with tar paper and shingles, making the interior appear dark and uninviting.
Shops and services in operation at this time included the aforementioned McCrory and Liberal stores, as well as The Arcade Health Center, Culp's Cafeteria, Arcade Seafoods, Eden's Meats, Walker's Fresh Fruit Drinks, The Jewel Box, Nu-Way Bakery, Steppe-Inn Lounge, Tasty Bird Farms Bar-B-Q and Sybil Hat Shop.
In 1977, the complex, which had been added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, was sold to an entity known as Arcade Partners. They proceeded to evict all retail and residential tenants, except for McCrory and Liberal. A 14 million dollar renovation got underway. This included the installation of a glass-enclosed elevator, and set of escalators, in the Rotunda. All roof coverings were removed, with ceilings re-opened to the skies.
The renewed retail center, known as ARCADE SQUARE, held a soft opening on May 10, 1980. There were six operational shops. An official dedication was held on October 9, 1980, with a total of thirty-three stores and services. By year's end, there were forty-four. Among these were Rinaldo's Bake Shoppe, Casual Corner, Red Cross Shoes, Waldenbooks, The American Way Sandwich Shop, Charlie's Crab Restaurant and the Coca-Cola Museum.
The Liberal supermarket closed for good on February 4, 1981. It re-opened, as a Metro Market, on September 7th. In 1986, a section of the Rotunda floor was removed, with the basement level The Menu food court installed. Its vendors included Gold Star Chili, Potato King, the Great Steak & Fry Company, Roma Pizza and Mandarin Kitchen.
The Phillips Hotel structure, comprising the northeast corner of the complex, was razed and replaced by the 20-story Arcade Center office tower. The building was officially dedicated on March 3, 1990. The structure housing the Metro Market was also replaced by a parking garage, which included new quarters for the grocery on its first level.
Unfortunately, the ARCADE SQUARE reinvention was not entirely successful. The decline of downtown Dayton had begun in the 1950s and had continued into the 1980s. This, and the perception of the downtown area as being unsafe, contributed to the decline of ARCADE SQUARE.
Moreover, ARCADE parking was expensive. The final nail in the proverbial coffin was driven when patrons at The Menu food court were hassled by security staff for being seated for too long. This severely reduced lunchtime trade.
The Phillips Hotel structure, comprising the northeast corner of the complex, was razed and replaced by the 20-story Arcade Center office tower. The building was officially dedicated on March 3, 1990. The structure housing the Metro Market was also replaced by a parking garage, which included new quarters for the grocery on its first level.
Unfortunately, the ARCADE SQUARE reinvention was not entirely successful. The decline of downtown Dayton had begun in the 1950s and had continued into the 1980s. This, and the perception of the downtown area as being unsafe, contributed to the decline of ARCADE SQUARE.
Moreover, ARCADE parking was expensive. The final nail in the proverbial coffin was driven when patrons at The Menu food court were hassled by security staff for being seated for too long. This severely reduced lunchtime trade.
On March 30, 1991, the complex closed its doors. Only three tenants remained in business. In 1994, a plan was announced that would have repurposed the shuttered structure as a mega-museum complex. This was to include a National Aviation Hall of Fame, Children's Museum and operative of the Montgomery County Historical Society. This initiative failed.
By this time, the complex had gone through four owners and been auctioned off for back taxes. The current proprietor, the Dayton-based Danis Building Construction Company, donated the structure to a charity organization in 2004. The complex continued to languish. It was purchased by two Wisconsin-based investors in May 2009.
Gunther Berg and Wendell Strutz had discovered ARCADE SQUARE during an online auction. They traveled to Dayton, assessed the structure, and ended up buying it. A thorough renovation was planned, but never got off the ground. By October 2013, ARCADE owners were in arrears for over 300 thousand dollars in unpaid property taxes.
In September 2015, city commissioners approved a 700 thousand dollar contract to pay for much-needed roof repairs to the ARCADE. These would prevent any further water damage to the structure while a workable renovation plan could be put together.
Two Cleveland-based architectural firms were brought in to assess the facility. They concluded that residential and hospitality components should be installed. These would include studio apartments, student housing, artist loft spaces and a "boutique upscale hotel."
By this time, the complex had gone through four owners and been auctioned off for back taxes. The current proprietor, the Dayton-based Danis Building Construction Company, donated the structure to a charity organization in 2004. The complex continued to languish. It was purchased by two Wisconsin-based investors in May 2009.
Gunther Berg and Wendell Strutz had discovered ARCADE SQUARE during an online auction. They traveled to Dayton, assessed the structure, and ended up buying it. A thorough renovation was planned, but never got off the ground. By October 2013, ARCADE owners were in arrears for over 300 thousand dollars in unpaid property taxes.
In September 2015, city commissioners approved a 700 thousand dollar contract to pay for much-needed roof repairs to the ARCADE. These would prevent any further water damage to the structure while a workable renovation plan could be put together.
Two Cleveland-based architectural firms were brought in to assess the facility. They concluded that residential and hospitality components should be installed. These would include studio apartments, student housing, artist loft spaces and a "boutique upscale hotel."
By June 2017, a joint venture of the Dayton-based Miller-Valentine Group, Baltimore-based Cross Street Partners and the City of Dayton had worked out a 125 million dollar ARCADE redevelopment. The historic structure would be refitted with art galleries, classrooms, studios, offices, restaurants, retail, public events spaces and 101 affordable housing units.
Stage One renovation work commenced in mid-2019.The primary tenant of the new and improved ARCADE would be a facility created by a joint venture of the University of Dayton, Entrepreneurs Center and PNC Bank. The (95,000 square foot) The Hub Powered by PNC opened in March 2021. At around the same time, Culture Works opened its doors. This entity was created to manage events held in the renovated Rotunda.
Residential tenants started moving into new The Arts Lofts abodes in April 2021. This was the first time in 43 years that the ARCADE housed residents. The Contemporary Dayton, a non-profit art gallery and artist's resource, set up shop (in 6,200 square feet) on April 30, 2021. Three restaurants opened in the ARCADE during 2023; Table 33, Gather By Ghostlight and Est!Est!!Est!!!.
THE ARCADE was officially dedicated on August 6, 2021. A subsequent Stage Two renovation project will add 3rd Street Arcade restaurants, second floor office tenants and "micro-apartments" on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the 3rd Street Arcade and Gibbons Buildings.
Sources:
The Dayton Daily News
The Dayton Daily News
The Dayton Herald
https://arcade.daytonhistoryproject.org
http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=13169.0 (Urban Ohio Forum, "Jeffrey" webmaster)
http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com / Dayton Arcade Photographs / Robert Thaman, photographer
www.bizjournals.com
www.dayton.com
http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com / Dayton Arcade Photographs / Robert Thaman, photographer
www.bizjournals.com
www.dayton.com
www.arcadedayton.com
http://wdtn.com
http://wdtn.com
"Dayton Arcade" article on Wikipedia
