These 3 buildings on Main caught my eye when I was in Dayton recently.  They look nice on the outside but when I looked in the windows (sorry no pics) it looked terrible.  Does anyone know the history of them and what their deal is?

 

 

Looks like someone ran out of money after they put it all into cosmetic work.  Looks to me like a rehab that either go shelved or postponed, or is just going very, very slow.  They obviously were serious about it though because all of the street facing windows look brand new and the facades look like they were just painted.  It's a shame to see these projects start and never finish.

I work near those buildings and have wondered about them myself. In the summer of 2006, I can remember taking some photos of Main Street and it looked like they had just finished cleaning up the facade. I guess they never found tenants or ran out of money.

Are you sure that the buildings in the first picture are on Main Street? The sign on pole says "West 35". That would be W. 3rd St., not Main St  :?

Are you sure that the buildings in the first picture are on Main Street? The sign on pole says "West 35". That would be W. 3rd St., not Main St :?

 

Yes, that is Main Street; the sign you are seeing is directing people to U.S. 35.

Hello everyone, new to the group, just wanted to add my two sense. I believe the building use to house a main auto parts store and they are located across from a Mcdonalds. i can't remember the name of the cross street. Not sure what is going on there but i'll see what i can dig up :).

The deal is that these are victims of the Dayton disease known as "doing things half-ass".

 

 

Better then Detroit's problem of not doing things at all!

The buildings were in jeopardy as they were in the path of the Blood and Tissue Center's growth plans...then the Blood and Tissue Center decided to head for the south suburbs, giving this trio another life.

As Justhere stated, the building on the far right was an auto parts store.  In 1962 when I attended  Patterson Co-op High School in the in the auto mechanics program I used to have to walk there often to purchase parts.  In the late 60's it became a fairly rough bar with "go go girls."  (True story: I once had to make a rather ungracious exit by sneaking off to the men's room and crawling out the window,  this after relations with three other gentleman became somewhat less than amicable.  Hey, every man must know his limitations.)  In the 70's or 80's it did an about face and became a gay bar.  I have no idea what happened after that.   

Two comments:

 

1)  Looking nice from the front.

2)  Dayton is so depressing.

In the 70's or 80's it did an about face and became a gay bar.  I have no idea what happened after that.   

 

I think you have this confused with the Male Box, wich was in nearly the same location, but a block to the west on Ludlow. 

 

2)  Dayton is so depressing.

 

What makes Dayton interesting at this point in history is that it's about to go the way of Detroit.  You can tour neighborhoods here that are somewhat intact and come back 5 or 10 years later and they will be gone.