Ronnie

from the Dayton Daily News: Wider N. Main project raises ire One business owner says he may have to close his Harrison Twp. store. By James Cummings, Staff Writer Monday, December 25, 2006 HARRISON TWP., Montgomery County — A center turn lane on North Main Street, designed for safety and to help local businesses, might put some of those establishments out of business. The Ohio Department of Transportation plans to add the lane along the stretch of North Main Street from about Swallow Drive to Macy Street. ODOT this year started surveying the project north of Dayton city limits. Survey crews discovered some property owners had erected signs, paved parking lots and built other structures on state right of way. Joyce Renner, an ODOT spokeswoman, said the department has sent letters to 35 property owners on both sides of the street warning them to move anything encroaching on the right of way before the state starts construction in two or three years. MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/

from the Dayton Daily News: Developer to donate 50-acre park near Ohio 741, Ohio 63 By Staff Writer Sunday, December 24, 2006 TURTLECREEK TWP., Warren County — Residents will get a new 50-acre park as part of an agreement reached by a home developer and the Warren County commissioners Tuesday. The developer, J-II Enterprises, agreed to donate the land, located on Ohio 741 just south of Ohio 63, to the county park board in exchange for sanitary sewer service. Warren commissioners had to agree to let Butler County extend their sewers into the proposed 95-home development. MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/

Seen a new billboard for this project on the way up to Dayton on I-75 just north of downtown Cincy, complete with the website rendering. Funny thing is, the website listed on the billboard is www.myoneriverplaza.com. Anyone know why they would have 2 websites for this? They're both identical sites.

from the Dayton Daily News Tears flow on North Main as businesses close for I-75 upgrade By Anthony Gottschlich Staff Writer Saturday, December 23, 2006 DAYTON — So long Stacie Burger, fried chicken day and Vegas Breakfast. Same to you Bob Bowman, master hairstylist and teller of bad jokes. The tributes, tears and memories flowed like gravy Friday and all week long as customers and well-wishers crowded the Chili King restaurant and Bowman's Hair Design to bid farewell. The two neighboring businesses at 614-616 N. Main St. close today after nearly 37 years to make way for a new entrance ramp to Interstate 75 North, part of a $569 million state project to improve traffic flow along I-75 through downtown. "It's part of my life that's closing," said Bowman, 63, who will continue his career at Changes Hair Studio in West Carrollton. "I think of all the people who have been here who are no longer alive, the people who moved away and still send me Christmas cards." http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/12/22/ddn122306odot.html

^ I have been wondering why Dayton and Cincinnati continually do not us the SPUI design?? Especially with all the new and redesign'd interchanges popping up everywhere. It is a fantastic design and uses less space for the greatest traffic flow. I have used them in Phoenix and in the Greensboro-Raleigh-Durham region and they are great! Dayton could really use SPUI's for the upcoming Woodman Dr. and Smithville Rd. interchange redesigns on the US 35 reconstruction. Space is so limited in this area, and traffic flow is a nightmare with Linden Ave's interferance with the normal diamond interchanges. Engineers...sheesh! :roll:

Looks like a strip mine if I'm looking at the right spot. AZ has lots of them.

from the 12/21/06 Dayton Daily News: Plan for Austin Pike interchange has hope for a speedy start Land acquisition to be one of the key elements in meeting the schedule, officials say. By Lisa A. Bernard Staff Writer Thursday, December 21, 2006 DAYTON — With plans in place for an interchange at Interstate 75 and Austin Pike, the coming year is expected to prove pivotal to speeding up the project, said local transportation officials. Slated to take off in fall of 2008, the $37 million state project will require at least 30 properties be fully or partially acquired to make room for the interchange and road improvements. "Typically, on a project of this nature, right-of-way is critical," said Steve Stanley, director of Montgomery County Transportation Improvement District, which is responsible for property acquisition for the project. Already the TID is in negotiation with some property owners and has high hopes for the others. ... http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/business/2006/12/20/ddn122106austin.html

What happened to my post yesterday????

Wow? 26? Well, Happy birthday young-one!

And another on for the truckers out there... Truckers get OK to smoke in cabs as long as they are alone Staff report Wednesday, December 20, 2006 COLUMBUS — Truckers might be breathing a little easier, or at least smoking easier. An Ohio Department of Health draft of proposed rules for the statewide smoking ban allows truckers to smoke as long as they are alone in their cabs. Read more: http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2006/12/19/ddn122006truckers.html

Didn't know if I should post this here, or somewhere else, but I will post here for now... From the Dayton Daily News: Draft of smoking ban enforcement rules posted By Kevin Lamb Staff Writer Wednesday, December 20, 2006 The Ohio Department of Health posted draft enforcement rules for the state's indoor smoking ban on its Web site Wednesday, giving people until Jan. 11 to comment on them. Link unavailable.

From the Dayton Daily News: Housing Authority gets the go-ahead to raze Parkside 150 low-income Dayton families will be relocated. Proposal would use land for downtown shopping complex. By Cathy Mong, Staff Writer Wednesday, December 13, 2006 The Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority received federal approval Tuesday to demolish 38 buildings making up Parkside Homes. The go-ahead to raze the homes of 150 families came from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Special Application Center, said DMHA Director Gregory D. Johnson. Parkside was built in 1941 with public housing money. One plan for the acreage, bounded by Keowee Street, Interstate 75 and Helena Street, and recently announced by the Downtown Dayton Partnership, is part of Vision 2010. That project entails building a shopping area anchored by a couple of big box retailers. In 2004, Tim Mahoney, DMHA assistant director of programs, said housing such as Parkside had outlived its purpose. "It's time to provide better housing resources for our clients. We don't like the concentration of the poorest of the poor in one site. It's not productive, and it's not a good environment for children," Mahoney said. The razing of the buildings and relocating residents is expected to take up to eight months. MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/

From the Dayton Daily News... $4 million renovation to yield condos in Oregon District By Lisa A. Bernard Staff Writer Wednesday, December 20, 2006 DAYTON — A $4 million renovation of an East Sixth Street relic is under way, with promises of delivering swank condominiums to the Oregon Historic District. Midtown Development Corporation has announced plans to transform the Chapel Electric Building, built in 1912, into the Excelsior Condominiums. Development plans include spaces for eight 1,500-square-foot flats and four 2,100-square-foot penthouses, said company president Tom Tornatore. More below:

In all honesty, I think this building looks like a Jenga game gone wrong. It does look terribly out of place.

Seems like they could've done this a little better without losing so much parking. Apparently, the best thing for them to do now is just not do it. Unless they build a few parking garages to make up for the loss.

From the 12/11/06 Dayton Daily News... Downtown's new traffic flow proposal due Wednesday By Ken McCall Staff Writer Monday, December 11, 2006 DAYTON — Expect some gasps Wednesday when consultants unveil design alternatives for eliminating downtown Dayton's one-way streets. Of the two new designs, one calls for eliminating a quarter of the parking spaces, while the other would do away with three quarters of the parking, said Matt Selhorst, project manager with Tetra Tech Inc., the consultant hired to study traffic flow downtown. For more information, please click the link. www.daytondailynews.com

ie 7

U.S. 35 traffic lanes to switch Friday as upgrade continues Dayton Daily News Saturday, December 02, 2006 DAYTON — Friday is the state's target date for restoring U.S. 35 traffic to the westbound lane, following reconstruction. The change will be made between Interstate 75 and Smithville Road, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation. ODOT said a crossover will occur east of the U.S. 35 bridge over Keowee Street. Westbound traffic will move from the old eastbound lanes to the rebuilt westbound side. Eastbound traffic on U.S. 35 will still be detoured to Stewart Street.

Hey Jeff, I just now seen this thread and I have to say wow! Very nice info indeed! I was wondering if you have anything on the history of Steve Whalen Blvd. and what it was supposed to be (if anything)? I figured it would be closley related to when US-35 was built, but I don't see anything about it up above.

LOL, sorry Monte, there's nothing in that building. That's building 25B, and the two building adjacent to it are 25A and 25C which are connected to 25B by a small walkway. I have been in that building several times servicing computers and right now, it is currently undergoing a large renovation. It is not a very large building with only 1 floor, no basement and nothing but small offices. It certainly does not house any UFO's and never has. There may or may not be a Hanger 18 at Wright-Pat, but this building is not it.

^ I never said a word about preservationists whining. I was referring to the average Joe that has no idea what this building was for except a boarded-up grafitti'd structure. They have never cared what happens to this building until someone wants to tear it down and then they care. With all do respect to the Ecki Building, it doesn't have much of a historical significance. No one famous came from there, nothing was invented there and really nothing important happened there. It was just an early market square that at one time even housed a Kroger store. It was converted into apartments many years ago where eventually a fire broke out and the building became condemned. Believe me, I love old structures. I'm a great fan of art-deco buildings. But sometimes it's just not meant to be. We cannot save every old structure there is. If we did, there would be no progress. It was decided long ago by developers that it woould be too expensive to renovate this structure. That's why no one has done it. A few companies proposed it, then abandoned the idea. You can read more about the Ecki Building on PreservationDayton.com. As you read the article, you will see that they don't make a case on why this building should be saved. As for crime, new shops and malls have been deterrents to crime. Just look at the UD area along Brown St. A multitude of new shops and restaurants have sprung new life to the surrounding neighborhoods, and crime has been on the way down in the area. It once was on the decline like the proposed Wayne/Wyoming area. The same could be said about the new Kroger plaza in North Dayton on Siebenthaler Ave. Drive thru the neighborhood across from this plaza (Klepinger Rd.) and witness many NEW homes being built. It has to start somewhere. This project, if successfully done, could hopefully catapult new developments all the way down to Oregon District which is only about a mile and a half down the road. This in addition to a new US35/Keowee interchange redesign next year can seriously propel this area into something much, much better.

I've read that a lot of Kettering Towers components aren't readily available, so someone was contracted to replicate the glass among other things. Don't really know how long this takes and don't know if that's true. Or maybe downtown Dayton is just trying to blend in with it's adjacent neighborhoods by boarding up the windows? :laugh:

15-20 stories can be anywhere between 290-360 feet. That's more than enough to be a highrise. In Cininnati, Kroger, Federated, 525 vine, 312 Elm and P&G are all around the 20 floor mark. They are pretty sizable buildings. Heck, Scripps is only 26 floors and it is the 3rd tallest in Ciny at 468 feet. If QCSII is built it would stand nearly 700ft with only 35 floors! So it all depends on the floor plate height more than anything. If this new tower goes to 20 floors, I would expect to see something around 260-290 feet for a condo development.

I've been quiet about this, but I want to share some facts about this neighborhood. I really don't see why Midland and Kroger are getting so much crap about this. This is a good thing for a neighborhood that is continually going downhill. If anyone has taken time to actually drive through the residential streets instead of just looking while driving down Wayne Ave, you would understand how badly dilapidated the housing and the area has become. Crime is increasing and it is unsafe to walk around there at night. I have fixed many computers in homes in that area in the past year and it scares me. The conditions of some of the houses I've been to makes me feel like it's going to come down as soon as I step on the porch. People seem so negative about another strip mall, but really, how many strip malls in Dayton are actually nice? Most of the good ones are in the suburbs and Dayton needs a good urban strip mall that's not half vacant and decaying. No one is going to do anything with those houses. They will continue to fall apart or become condemned as some of them already have. A thing about the old Kroger. I used to service that store for Keebler for many years. It is small, it is filthy and it is trash. The things I have seen in the stockrooms would make you not want to shop there...from dirt to mice. It is beyond renovation, creates traffic backup on Wayne during heavy hours and the lot is barely large enough for customers even on light days. This is a good thing for the area, whether or not it's an every day strip mall. It will create jobs and take down much unsafe housing. The Spanish looking building may be old, but it is falling apart too. It has been vacant for many, many years and no one has ever stepped up or offered to do anything about it. When someone comes along and wants to tear it down, then people start to whine totally forgetting they never lifted a finger to do anything to prevent it's demise. I'm looking forward to this new Kroger. I think other people should too.

Maybe they should have considered puting it on the new Caresource building?