Riverside: Eminent domain or imminent demise

City wants to use blight law to gain land for development

By Mehul Srivastava

 

Dayton Daily News

 

RIVERSIDE | A four-lane roadway and immaculately manicured lawns separate the Air Force museum from a strip of land that houses the Paradise Motel and Best Inn.

 

And it's this strip of land that officials here believe could save the city from financial ruin.

 

City officials want to use a controversial blight law to declare "blighted" the motels along Springfield Pike and the rest of the land from near the Harshman Road overpass to Huberville Road and develop a hotel-restaurant complex that could bring the city as much as $2 million a year in tax revenue.

 

More below:

www.daytondailynews.com

I think I agree with the above assessment totally.

:clap:

 

It's about damn time!!! I grew up in Riverside (Mad River Twp.) and that area of town has always been an embarrassment. I could never understand why the areas largest tourist attraction is surrounded by sleezy hotels (where people don't stay one night, but are actually living there!) and unkempt businesses. I hope my hometown cleans up this area and turns it into a major tourist draw which it has the potential of being.

 

I've been dreaming of this since they tore down that old DAP plant!

OH WOW!!!

 

GREAT NEWS!!!

The museum recently opened a new hanger and will be opening a new missle silo too, so this couldn't have come at a better time.

 

"Riverside is known as the gateway to the Unites States Air Force Museum. As one of the nation’s premier tourist attractions, the Museum attracts over one million visitors per year. The forthcoming National Aviation Hall of Fame will be located next to the AF Museum and is expected to draw an additional 100,000 visitors."

From the Dayton Daily News 10/15/04

 

Air Force Museum Celebrates Name Change

 

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE | The name may have changed, but telling the amazing stories that make up the history of military flight will remain the mission of the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  The museum officially changed its name Thursday from the United States Air Force Museum.

 

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper joined retired Maj. Gen. Charles Metcalf, the museum's director, and Gen. Gregory Martin, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, for a redesignation ceremony that focused on the value of preserving Air Force history.

 

Metcalf called the name change a milestone in the museum's 81-year history.  The new name more closely aligns the museum with institutions such as the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the planned National Museum of the United States Army.

 

Metcalf said the museum will continue with its plans to bring the exhibits in the Presidential aircraft hangar closer to the rest of the museum.  Also, the museum is on the list to get a space shuttle once NASA begins to retire its spacecraft.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/

cool, another bragging point for Riverside!

 

Have any of you guys living in Dayton heard anything new about Riverside's plan to use eminent domain to tear down and replace the properties near the museum?

I don't think there is really any new information here, but this July/August newsletter has a little paragraph about that project, along with a not-so-great copy of a drawing of it (3rd page):

http://www.riverside.oh.us/pdfs/newsletter_jul-aug_04.pdf

So what is the new name supposed to be?

I didn't see it mentioned (did I miss it?)

Yes, you did miss it: National Museum of the United States Air Force

Magyar, don't feel bad when I was skimming the article I missed it too. I had to reskim the top 3 times before I saw it. It is very subtle that is why. Hardly think it will excite anyone too much.

The name might not create any excitement, but having a space shuttle there sure would!

They are finishing up that Hall of Missles, but have a fourth hangar planned to. I've been told tha though the project was originally scheduled for 2010, the fundraising means it might move up to 2007. They will have space to permit visitors to watch aircraft restoration in progress...interpeting the restoration process.

Yes, definitely well worth a visit!

Anything new on this?  I found nothing on Google or on the Riverside site.

I havn't heard anything.

 

I've heard the museum is planning to start on a 4th hangar/gallery in 2006, with maybe a conference center attached.

 

One has to wonder how economically viable Riverside is.  I recall back in the early or mid 90s, after incoporation, they where trying to charge the military/civilians/contractors within their new city limits the city income tax under the technicality that Riverside did'nt annex Mad River Twp, but merged (there is apparently a state law preventing citys from annexing military installations...or something).  Anyway, they lost.

 

Now, if you read the article, the place can't generate enough revenue to provide the level of police and fire service they would like...and are sort of pinning their hopes on this redevelopement strategy (which seems a bit risky).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They could always go the route of getting police from the county and they could enter into an agreement with Dayton for fire.  That's never a good option, though, when it's a matter of life and death.

 

 

That's a shame considering Riverside is one of the largest suburbs of Dayton.  The problem with Riverside is the lack of industry and retail.  Most of Riverside's land use is residential....maybe they should tear down all that crap at the corner of Airway and Harshman Rd. and build a real "downtown" (small scale commercial area with street-front facades and parking in the back).  It's hard to think of Riverside as a city since it doesn't have a real "core", but I guess that's because it's always been just a township.

Airway and Harshman (I guess you could call it Airway and Woodman) is a good example of the problems with older retail strips in surburban Dayton.  Keep driving down Woodman and you will see some abandonded or semi-vacant big boxes from an earlier era of discount retail.

 

It's hard to think of Riverside as a city since it doesn't have a real "core", but I guess that's because it's always been just a township.

 

Well, there is some history here.  There is a "historic core" to Riverside, but its been cut up by Harshman Rd and a realigned Springfield Street.  It was a rural villiage called "Harshmanville" or "Harshmantown", and dates to the early 19th century.  This area eventually incorporated as Riverside...it was pretty small, actually.  It was this "Riverside" that merged into Mad River Township. 

 

Those 'blighted' hotels are adjacent to this older area.

 

Some of is is still left.  Might be worth another pix thread.

 

 

 

 

 

^ Jump on it.

 

God, I remember going out to Airway Shopping Center as a kid.  It was pretty dumpy then, and I didn't know jack shit about urban aesthetics.  I was just a kid.

 

Jeff...I like your little history example there.  Time and time again a small hamlet or has incorporated or been annexed and got obliterated by a massive road project.

I did find out a bit more about this.  Riverside is actually in the process buying those hotels...they already bought one, but wants to also aquire the surrounding houses.  This is not just the old DAP plant and hotels.

I can never keep the whole "Harsman Rd/Woodman Dr./Needmore Ave. thing straight.  I lived in Riverside most of my life and never heard of Harshmanville....that's interesting.

 

That whole area behind the former DAP plant is a dump (houses included) so tear 'em down!  (I know, I know, if I lived back there I'd be pissed).  Some of those homes look like old military housing (ranch style townhomes). 

 

I'm trying to remember if there is one really nice big house back there.....maybe it's further down Woodman/Harshman towards S.R. 4 and Eastwood Lake....but I seem to remember a nice, older home on the right with a top-floor patio/observation deck. 

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

 

Cool, I'd already forgotten about this.

Actually this is a legitimate use of the TIF concept..this is what it was intended for (vs that shopping center at Indian Ripple, which is a real scam, IMO).

 

 

^Riverside was incorporated in 1994, not 1995  :?

 

Any renderings or masterplans floating around out there?

This is the only thing that I have seen so far:

 

 

I'll keep looking for a better/more updated rendering.

 

demolition, which will include ...former Cassano's restaurant.

 

:cry:

 

 

"Riverside is a great place to live and bring up a family...."

 

 

I agree!  :wink:

I haven't been over this way in awhile...does anyone know if anything is happening?  Is the hotel under construction?  Here are some more renderings/graphics that I came across...

 

 

 

 

Here is a link to a larger version of the previous graphic

 

Well, whatever.  It's better than what was there.

Hmm...I don't know.  That story from April says there was a groundbreaking for the hotel, but I haven't been through Riverside since then.

 

I'm having trouble remembering it clearly but I seem to recall driving by and seeing some construction...

^ Yes, you are correct.  I drove by the other weekend and the hotel is coming right along...also, a few "streets" have been built and and a bunch of street lights (more like lamp kind of things, but I'll let Ink tell me exactly what they are, as he seem to be the resident streetlight expert :) )  Pictures to come...

^I can't wait to see them!

 

I was driving on OH-444 from Riverside to Fairborn last weekend and saw the road construction taking place at Kauffman Road which should make it easier to get to the Air Force Museum.

 

 

 

 

And behind the new hotel...

Not sure I like that new hotel but it looks better in the up-close shot. I love that old house. It's a shame it's in that kind of shape. I hate when old houses like that are divided up into apartments too.

Air Force Museum puts F-22A Raptor on public display

By John Nolan

Staff Writer

Thursday, January 17, 2008

 

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The F-22A Raptor, the supersonic stealth fighter aircraft that the Air Force says is essential to maintaining the global superiority of American air power, went on public display Thursday.

 

A crowd of Air Force officials, defense contractor representatives and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base employees turned out for a ceremony in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.  It was spotlighted as the world's first permanent static display of the Raptor, a $160 million plane that entered the Air Force's operational inventory in December 2005 and can fly at twice the speed of sound.

 

An F-22A Raptor exhibit was unveiled on Thursday at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz spoke about the capabilities of the fifth-generation jet fighter that has been added to the museum.

 

MORE: http://www.daytondailynews.com/n/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/17/ddn011708raptorweb.html

Hey J, did you ever visit the museum yet? ;-)

Yes, I did.

So what did ya think?

Riverside plans $113M retail, office project

 

http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/04/14/story3.html?b=1208145600^1618097

 

The city of Riverside has unveiled a new master plan for the Center of Flight office and retail development that is nearly triple the original size, projecting more than 400,000 square feet in potential developments.

 

The old model, last discussed in 2006, was billed as a 17-acre, $30 million project, but Riverside is now planning $113 million in projects over a 44-acre span.

 

For more info, please click the link

Ohio's national Air Force museum has good year

 

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) - The National Museum of the United States Air Force in Ohio reports last year brought some 1.32 million visitors, second-most in its 55-year history.

 

The total was 25,000 visitors short of the all-time record set in 2003 during celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of aviation in the home area of the pioneering Wright brothers.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/01/06/06-air-force.html?sid=101

Obama seeks $14M for Dayton space shuttle

 

The effort to bring a space shuttle to Dayton is getting a boost from a pretty influential person: President Barack Obama.

 

The 2012 federal budget Obama sent to Congress this week includes $14 million in funds to bring the Space Shuttle Atlantis to the National Museum of the Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton.

 

Snagging one of the shuttles would be a big score for any museum, by some accounts boosting attendance by 1 million people per year and having a $40 million annual impact on the state and creating up to 700 jobs.

 

cont

Project across from USAF museum gets developer

By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer

Updated 2:06 AM Thursday, February 24, 2011

 

RIVERSIDE — This city’s ambitious goal to build an upscale mixed-use development across from The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force cleared another hurdle this month when City Council approved hiring a developer to create a master plan for the project.

 

The Council unanimously voted Feb. 17 to enter into an agreement with Forest City Enterprises, a Cleveland-based developer with about $11.8 billion in assets, to draft a master plan for the 44 acres located across from the museum’s entrance, known as the Center of Flight.

 

The city plans to pay Forest City $300,000 for in-depth site analysis, market studies and a master plan that considers land use, utilities, open space, recreation, streetscaping and commercial, retail, residential and municipal potential.

Read more at: http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/project-across-from-usaf-museum-gets-developer--1089351.html

Developer selected for project across from Dayton USAF Museum

 

Full article below:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/morning_call/2011/02/developer-selected-for-dayton-usaf.html

If you want to see a Space Shuttle, you have to head to the coasts. You know, to woo international visitors. Not the taxpayers who actually paid for their construction. WTF?!

 

 

Dayton won't get space shuttle

 

The space shuttle will not be coming to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden Jr. announced that the space agency has rejected a chance to donate one of the four retired space shuttles to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

Both U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville and Austria called the decision a slap in the face to the Midwest.

“New York and L.A. don’t make a lot of sense. They didn’t make contributions to the program,” Turner said, referring to the shuttle program. “No one in the Midwest is going to have a shuttle.

 

Cont

Los Angeles I get (western populations; Edwards AFB contributions, etc) but New York?  Especially if Washington already is getting one???  And not Dayton, Houston, or Huntsville?  How strange.

Agreed. NYC to D.C. is under 250 miles!

 

I think Seattle was the more appropriate choice for the west coast what with Boeing the largest player in the fleet's construction...