When it came time to talk, again, about Firestone Plant #1, Akron’s planning director began with an apology.
“The processes weren’t followed very well — or at all,” Kyle Julien on Tuesday told members of the city’s Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission as he shared how the city might preserve part of the historic building.
“I apologize for the nature of our communication with this body.”
Julien recounted telling the board that the city would keep the front of the 116-year-old building, which includes its iconic clock tower, only to return last summer to ask permission to tear the whole thing down. He acknowledged “our efforts were backwards there.”
“We’re owning that and recognizing that as a mistake in our process,” Julien said.
The commission didn’t grant permission last summer, but the planning department appealed to Akron City Council. That body agreed to allow the demolition if officials made an effort to save it, or at least save the clock tower.
But City Council’s approval conflicted with promises the city had made to the State Historic Preservation Office about what parts of the building it would keep. The dispute with the state agency led the city to pause its demolition process or risk losing $6 million in state money to pay for it. It’s also what led Julien back to the historic preservation commission.
“This is the kind of dialogue we should have had last year,” he said after the meeting. “We were anxious” about a deadline, originally set for last year, to spend the demolition money.
“We thought we had a plan.”
Action needed to improve historic preservation in Akron
Julien’s apology seemed genuine, said Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, a member of the historic preservation commission.
“I don’t think they were just words,” she said. “The city agreed we should have worked together on this, we should work together moving forward.”
Now, she’d like to see action to keep the city from finding itself in the same position with other old buildings.
The commission did not vote on any of the five proposals Julien and others presented to them, but Corbin Murphy said there were three items she’d like to see added to a memorandum of understanding, both to help preserve Firestone Plant #1 and to improve the commission’s ability to help save buildings, not act as a roadblock to demolishing them.
The first, she said, is the creation of a new approach to Akron’s remaining at-risk historic structures. The city should consider architectural heritage in future decisions, she said, and an internal policy should ensure planning, economic development and other departments align with the commission’s goals.
Next, Corbin Murphy said, the city should prioritize education — for the community, but also for city employees. It’s easier to communicate, she said, if everyone is speaking the same language.
And lastly, she suggested the city professionally document the building, including with high-quality photographs, so that an archive could be shared with the Library of Congress and local libraries. Firestone Plant #1 is on the National Register of Historic Places, and Corbin Murphy said it was “really, really important” that it be added to the Historic American Buildings Survey.
As far as the building itself?
She heard community support for relocating part of the tower and turning it into a monument, but Corbin Murphy said doing so would not be the same as actually preserving Plant #1. She did warn the city that if they put it in the memorandum of understanding, they had to do it — or again risk losing the demolition funding.
“I wanted to see something good come out of this,” Corbin Murphy said after the meeting. “I see some sincerity.”
‘Residents have power’ in Firestone discussion
Leianne Heppner, another commission member and the president and CEO of the Summit County Historical Society, suggested the city contact the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which each year releases a list of the country’s most endangered historic places.
The list draws attention, and potentially dollars, to buildings that might otherwise be lost. Especially during America’s 250th birthday, Heppner said, other groups might want to help preserve Akron’s history — and the country’s.
After the meeting, Heppner praised the residents who have spoken up about their desire not to see the building demolished.
“The residents have power in this process,” she said. “By speaking up, people understand what you value.”
She said, too, that it was important that the city had listened to the public.
“When we open ourselves up,” Heppner said, “listen to all sides, that’s when change occurs.”
Firestone update next expected in April
The state gave Akron until Tuesday to respond. Julien said he intended to summarize the commission’s discussion, along with the conversations that took place over four community meetings, while asking for additional time to deliberate.
He expected to update the commission in April — its next scheduled meeting is March 3, too soon, Julien said, to have much to share.
In the meantime, he planned to explore ideas the commission offered.
John Wheeler, the commission chair, said the group will continue pushing to serve as an advisory committee on future development and redevelopment rather than creating roadblocks.
“We’re kind of grasping at straws for Firestone,” he said. “It’s not the first time the city and the committee have gone down this path of after-the-fact.”
The Library of Congress inclusion, he said, was a minimum request from the body. Corbin Murphy, after the meeting, said she still thought it was feasible to mitigate environmental problems on the property due to chemical contaminants and turn Plant #1 into housing.
The city isn’t in a position now to commit to the expense of various preservation proposals, Julien told the commission. But he said the conversation gave him some clarity and questions the commission raised about who would be responsible for added costs or storage would be part of the discussion.
“I just want to say,” Julien said, “thank you very much.”