Update:
Members of Akron's Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission Commissioners on Tuesday postponed deciding whether Firestone Plant #1 can be torn down. Read more about it here.
A plan to save the facade of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.’s first manufacturing plant and its 115-year-old, eight-story clock tower is at risk.
The City of Akron originally planned to demolish most of Plant 1 but keep the front of the building. However, since the Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission agreed last June to a partial demolition, the city’s planning department determined it is too expensive to save the rest of the building.
The low bid to separate and secure the front of the building was upwards of $12 million, according to a planning department analysis, while the low bid to demolish the entire structure was just over $7 million. Additionally, saving the facade after the rest of the building was demolished would require a 650-foot wall to be built from the basement to the second floor to enclose the property.
The building, erected in 1910 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, is located west of South Main Street and north of Cole Avenue in Akron.
Can Firestone’s clock tower be saved?
The Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday in City Council chambers to hear from community members about the proposal to demolish the building. Dana Noel, the advocacy chair for Progress Through Preservation, said he plans to be there to ask if there’s any way the clock tower can be saved.
“I just think it’s a shame that they don’t even try to save the clock tower,” Noel said. “It’s a landmark to Akron; especially it’s a landmark to Firestone Park.”
The planning department’s analysis states there are half-inch cracks in the clock tower, something Noel said can be mitigated. To allow the entire structure to be demolished “erases part of Akron’s identity, it becomes lost,” he said.
But a “covenant not to sue” agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency means the building, which is larger than two Home Depots, can’t be converted into housing or used as a daycare. There haven’t been other redevelopment opportunities, said Donnie Kammer, a member of Akron City Council and the area’s representative.
“Hopefully a developer will come and build something nice there,” Kammer said. “I’m ready for it to come down, I guess.”
‘That’s a lot of money’
Kammer said he was disappointed the facade couldn’t be saved and wanted to ensure there is no way the clock tower could be. After all, he said, officials have told him for years the goal was to keep the front of the building.
Noel called Firestone’s Plant 1 an important part of Akron’s growth. After a building is razed, he said, it can be hard to remember its effect on a community. Still, while he said the city is sympathetic to these concerns, finances remain an issue.
Kammer agreed.
“That’s a lot of money, to be honest with you,” he said of the $5 million difference between low bids.
Bob Troyer, the former chief spokesperson for Firestone, worked in Plant 1 for almost 20 years. He has a lot of good memories but said that, as a multi-story plant, there’s little use for the building today.
“It’s sad to see it go,” he said. “It was a good home for us, but times change.”
Firestone’s roots will always be in Akron, Troyer said, regardless of whether the building facade stands. He noted that a statue of Harvey Firestone remains nearby.
What are the issues with the Firestone plant?
The planning department report, which recommends the board approve a certificate of appropriateness for the full demolition, said metal scrappers have for years removed wires and pipes, stripping the building of nearly all of its valuable metals. It has damage from storm water and plenty of leaks; the roof is deteriorated and needs to be replaced; masonry on the clock tower is cracked.
To secure “the building from both trespassers and weather is financially infeasible,” the report states. It goes on to say that while the building is historically significant, the “structural deterioration of the building, the prohibitive cost and ongoing vandalism” mean it can’t be saved.
Once the Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission votes, the proposal to tear down the building in its entirety will go before both the Board of Control and City Council for approval, said Stephanie Marsh, a spokesperson for the city. She said the State Historic Preservation Office would also have to review the plan.
In addition to the cost of separating the front of the building, Marsh said the longer-term costs to maintain a building that would be difficult to develop because of its size and deed restrictions played into the recommendation.
Old buildings always need substantial work, Noel said. But he thinks there’s still room to make this one viable.
He just isn’t holding his breath.
“The thing about preservation, it’s kind of a heartbreaking endeavor,” he said. “You lose more than you save.”