Ludlow is the most "street like" street left downtown, particularly south of Third. The street was residential throughout the 19th century but became a westward extension of downtown through the activities of The Estate of Adam Schantz (and associates of the Schantz interests) during the first two decades of the 2oth century. So there is a sort of consistency to the architecture here. Buildings were replaced and altered, but these moves mostly held the street line.

 

Since there is a concentration of terra cotta facades the intersection of Ludlow and Fifth is called the Terra Cotta District.

 

The before and after pix are all keyed to this building removals map, take from this thread about building removals and substitutions south of Third Street.

 

 

Fourth and Ludlow

 

First group. The Metropolitan eventually relocated to Main Street, but the storefront remained active into the early 2000s.

 

 

 

All the buildings in the above pix survive today, but wrapped in plastic. Plastic in this case being a "exterior finish and insulation system". A cladding technology imported from Europe in the late 1970s, which would date the renovation to the early 1980s?

 

 

 

There is a sort of form follows function concept here, as there is one big tenant that did the renovation and occupied the buildings: Reynolds & Reynolds. This was their corporate headquarters until they moved to suburbia in the early 2000s and sold the buildings to the school board in a somewhat controversial deal.

 

Though R&R was here, the ground floor corner store was Wilkies' bookstore until the school board evicted the store and blanked-out the storefront.

 

Wilkies

 

A true Dayton original, the oldest bookstore in Ohio was really more of a very enhanced magazine stand. They carried books, and a lot of deep discount remaindered ones, but the attraction was the wall of magazines of all sorts, including obscure things like German Liebesroman, English street-style fashion mags, all sorts of hobbyist stuff, and even a porn section discretely located at the rear of the store.

 

And the newspapers. A long row of blue-painted wood bins with the Sunday papers of every major metro area in the US. Including the San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner and the Sacramento Bee. Yer humble host, homesick for Califas, used to buy these papers here every week for awhile.

 

Wilkies came under new ownership near the end, and the new owners cleaned up the store, removing the more down-market things like the porn and drag racing mags,  which probably hurt sales a bit.  The store probably would have closed anyway if the school board hadn’t bought the building.

 

@@@

 

Vaudeville! So said the big sign on the corner. This big white building (terra cotta facade?) across the street from the Metropolitan was Keith's Theatre, but the theatre itself was buried in a multi-use office and retail building. Before that there was a Methodist church, an apartment building, and some old frame houses on the site.

 

 

 

Behind the camera, on Ludlow and closer to Main, was the Schwind Hotel which was a favorite for vaudeville and theatrical performers. Among the guests was Laurel and Hardy.

 

Keith was replaced in the late 1960s by the Grant-Deneau Tower and its parking garage annex, renamed the Miami Valley Tower in the 1970's and renamed again as 40 West 4th in the 2000's. Pretty deadly street wall that once was livened up a bit by the DVAC art gallery (now on north Jefferson).

 

 

 

Fifth and Ludlow

 

The northeast corner was yet another theatre, the Colony or Colonial, which looks like a big jewel box or baroque toy chest. But one can see the fire escape from the balcony level on the side.

 

 

 

Replaced by this Lutheran church. Why a downtown church is anyone’s guess as there hasn't been much residential in the area aside from some subsidized housing to the west on Fifth.

 

 

 

(Plastic wrapped old building, formerly R&R and now the school board, visible to the side)

 

 

Next door to the Colony (the blank wall of the stage fly in the background) on the north side of Fifth was the gaggle of buildings, including the Savoy Hotel (Fireproof). We are a block from Union Station, so perhaps one of a collection of railroad hotels that sprang up in the area (including the large Holden, now subsidized housing).

 

But the atmosphere here is more skid row (the true skid row was along the railroad on 6th, but probably included this area too): cheap rooms, pool halls, lunch counters, and the Sally just up the street.

 

 

 

(neat trellisy thing on the roof..maybe a roof garden?)

 

Skid row no more. Nearly the entire block has been leveled.

 

 

Also on Fifth, but kitty-corner from the Colony, was this collection. All these except the corner building are gone. A good example of building substitution as houses are replaced by commercial buildings.

 

 

Today the two houses have been replaced by what is today the Old Spaghetti Warehouse. The pool hall was modernized (maybe) or replaced and is now a barbers college. The Spaghetti Warehouse, “Spaghouse” for short, is one of only three restaurants downtown open after business hours and on weekends. The place also has a connection with the local gay community via the Friends of the Italian Opera dinner circle, who have been dining here every Tuesday for the past 20 years.

 

 

 

The corner building has some significance to labor history as it was the center of Dayton’s trade union movement, with multiple unions having their offices in the upper floors. Ground floor was the home of the Living City Project, sort of a storefront gallery/studio/meeting place during the late 1980s/early 1990s, evangelizing for urbanism and downtown revival. Today it’s the Terra Cotta Cafe coffee shop.

 

 

The northeast corner, across from the Spaghetti Warehouse, is really two buildings. The Ludlow Building on the corner (made to look like three buildings) and the Wurlizter Building further down the street.

 

 

The Wurlitzer (to the left) is more visible in the modern pix.

 

 

All these buildings were renovated in 1994-1996 for Reynolds & Reynolds training center and offices ($5.2M, or $100/Sf in then-year prices). This is one of the best examples of urban renovation downtown, and is a model on how to develop an urban "campus" of different buildings for one occupant (recall R&R's headquarters was across the street, remodeled in a drastically different way).

 

Unfortunately R&R was also expanding in the suburbs, and decided for the suburban option in the early 2000's, vacating their Ludlow campus and selling the property to the school board.

 

Before Reynolds and Reynolds

 

Between, say, 1989 and 1994 this group of buildings was some of the last of old-school downtown. The Wurlitzer Building had Marx dancewear and a photography studio/gallery that specialized in dance photography. Marx eventually relocated to Washington Township. Upstairs was a big dance studio. The corner was a downtown drugstore. But not any old drugstore. This one sold things like dream books and voodoo-esque potions as well as the usual drugstore things.

 

Then, around the corner to the right (across the street from the Spaghouse) was Changes gay bar, which has the distinction of being the fist Dayton gay bar visited by yer humble host. In the 1970s(?) the space was a live music place that I've been told was a precursor to Canal Street Tavern. Then two drag queens took over and wanted to turn it into a drag show bar, but were stymied by the Lutheran church on the corner.

 

Finally the place became Changes, a sort of street-queen bar in the spirit of 5th Streets' skid row past. Yet it wasn't really that divey. It had a postage stamp sized stage and dance floor and the most pathetic light system you ever saw (yes, it had a glitter ball). There was big skylight at the rear, under which one could get enough light to read the San Fran Sunday paper one just bought at Wilkies, before crossing the street for dinner at the Spaghouse.

 

Changes had more than a clientele relationship with the Spaghetti Warehouse across the street as some of the wait staff also tended bar and did drag at Changes.

 

When R&R took over and closed the street level businesses Changes was partially relocated as the Wright Corner (east Third Street "Merchants Row"), physically relocated as parts of the old bar were actually taken out and reinstalled in the new space.

 

@@@@

 

Next, more rephotography finishing up Ludlow and moving on to Jefferson and Main.

 

 

Love these series!

How sad

Excellent post.

Fantastic information.

 

I've never really bought in to the Terra Cotta District designation, but maybe we'll be calling it all the Arena District soon...

^^^ Amusing thought, Ink. It does make you wonder waht this new arena, if built, will do to the area.

 

Great Post, Jeffery!

oh man i was about to bust into tears until the last two saved the day!