Back in September, I wrote about working “Urban Nights” for the Friends of the Dayton Arcade, and today I would like to tell you about this great complex.

The Dayton Arcade is a collection of five buildings in Dayton, Ohio.

The historic Arcade is an architecturally elegant complex in the heart of Dayton’s central business district.

Built in 1902 at a cost of $2 million, it was conceived by Eugene J. Barney of the Barney & Smith Car Co.

The five interconnecting buildings are topped by a glass-domed rotunda, 70 feet high and 90 feet in diameter. Detailing around the dome includes oak leaves and acorns, grain, rams’ heads, wild turkeys and cornucopia, below with two balconied upper floors which circle the enclave.

As president of the Arcade Co., Barney made sure the Arcade had the latest innovations, including elevators, a power plant and a cold storage plant. The architect, Frank M. Andrews, also was the architect for NCR’s factory buildings and the American Building at Third and Main streets in Dayton.

The most notable building, which fronts on Third Street, is of Flemish design. It is said to be patterned after a guild hall in Amsterdam. The Fourth Street and Ludlow Street facades are done in Italian Renaissance Revival.

More Suitable for the Midwest

The most interesting architectural feature is the great dome. Classic detailing usually found in such rotundas was replaced by detailing more representative of Ohio. For example, the cornucopias are filled with fruits and vegetables from Ohio. There are festoons of oak leaves with acorns, ram heads and garland of grain. Colorful turkeys are at each framing member of the dome.

Originally, the main spaces were used as a major farmers’ market with housing on the upper floors. Through the first four decades of the 20th century, this super market was one of downtown Dayton’s prime attractions.

Here was where one went for the unusual in fruits and vegetables, seafood, baked goods, food specialties, meats and meat specialties, fresh-cut flowers and assorted luxury items available in or out of season.

In the late 1970s, investors began planning and implementing a major restoration of the Arcade. In May 1980, the newly refurbished Arcade, with the exception of the housing that on the upper floors, reopened as a retail center, The building which contained many offices in its day, also was not part of the renovation. Success eluded the Arcade, and it was closed in 1990.

The former owner owed several hundred thousand in back taxes. So the property went to a sheriff’s sale last March 12, and the building complex was purchased by Dayton Arcade, LLC, for the minimum bid of $615,106.02. The Arcade’s new owners, Gunther Berg and Wendell Strutz, said they would begin working on the building within six months, to restore the complex to its former glory, with mixed use developments – housing, offices, restaurants and commercial space.

Early estimate on the restoration totals $30 million.

At Urban Nights, when both Gunther and Wendell were available for questions from interested citizens, they indicated work would begin shortly. No work has begun. I believe, like many others, they are having a difficult time acquiring the necessary financing.

The next Urban Nights is in May, and hopefully visible work will have begun prior to that evening.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net