Aug. 5 Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission meeting
Covered by Documenter Bruce Taylor (see his notes here).
The City of Akron’s proposal to tear down the entire Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Plant 1 was rejected Tuesday by the city’s Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission.
City officials, who had planned to save the 1910 building’s clock tower and facade, last month asked permission to tear them down — along with the rest of the building. The commission had previously approved the demolition of the rest of the plant, but members were hesitant to allow the entire structure to be demolished. They wanted more time to consider.
This week, in a 4-1 vote, with one abstention, they decided the facade and clocktower could not be demolished.
That’s despite the fact that Travis Capper, an engineer with the city, told commissioners in July that his team went to great lengths to try to find a way to save the front of the building. He said that included looking for a way to keep just the eight-story clock tower, even if the rest of the facade wasn’t salvageable.
It wasn’t structurally possible, he said.
Commission members took a July 30 tour of Plant 1. They also received the engineering report from Hasenstab Architects. Members said Plant 1’s structural faults are no more severe than those of similar old buildings. The plant is made of reinforced concrete, which would make it costly to demolish.
A planning department report said it would cost more than $12 million to keep the front of the building — as opposed to more than $7 million to tear the whole thing down.
The 2024 approval to demolish the rear three-quarters of Plant 1 was contingent on the city, as owner of the building, seeking partners to preserve and redevelop the remaining front section of the building. It was not clear to members whether this was done, or to what extent.
No housing can be built on Firestone site
What will happen next is unknown. The city could appeal the commission’s decision to Akron City Council at its Sept. 8 meeting.
But what could be built there, if the facade could be saved?
Mike Antenucci, Akron’s zoning division manager, said reuse of the building as a mixed-use development was unlikely because of an agreement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency that it will not be used for residential purposes. No new residences could be built on the land, either. The site’s zoning was changed in 2020 to disallow residential use while permitting industrial use.
Land immediately to the south had been developed as the “Firestone Business Park,” and introducing residential use into the HQ building would conflict with the industrial uses in the immediate neighborhood, Antenucci explained.
Doing so would allow the city to bring in more tax revenue, city officials said, while letting community groups or nonprofits use the space would not — and might even require subsidies. Additionally, maintaining the building will add recurring costs for the city.
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Plant 1 remains an important landmark
City officials also said borrowing money to preserve Plant 1 could limit other capital projects the city would want to borrow money to accomplish. The funds intended to pay for the demolition of Plant 1 come from the State of Ohio, though they are time-limited.
The original deadline to spend the funds has passed, although the state informally agreed to an extension. Nonetheless, the state has asked for an update on the city’s intentions by the end of August. If the money isn’t spent, it will revert to the state. Akron could reapply, but there is no assurance the state will continue to have American Rescue Plan Act money available.
Commission members said they were concerned that there had been little opportunity for public comment on the tear-down proposal, including from advocacy groups such as the Summit County Historical Society or Progress Through Preservation.
Most of the other Firestone buildings are gone, they said — Plant 1 is an important landmark in Firestone Park.
“Once it’s gone, there’s no bringing it back,” said Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, a retired restoration architect and a member of the commission, in July. “This building is so important, not just to the life of Akron, but, really, to the whole country.”