Roosevelt Demo
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Category: Middletown Community
Forum Name: Fun Pictures and Video
Forum Description: Share your Middletown Area Fun Photos and Video
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3434
Printed Date: Apr 27 2024 at 3:54pm
Topic: Roosevelt Demo
Posted By: 409
Subject: Roosevelt Demo
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 12:12pm
Demolition has begun at the east end of the building.
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Replies:
Posted By: randy
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 2:03pm
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Great Pics !! ------------- Call me for a www.CameraSecurityNow.com" rel="nofollow - www.CameraSecurityNow.com quote 513-422-1907 x357 |
Posted By: Hermes
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 2:55pm
Whats next on the demo list ? 
What happens when they run out of stuff to demolish ?------------- No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !! |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 3:37pm
O'Roark and Rausch Demolition ain't worried about what to demolish next. Both of 'em will go out of business after everything is torn down and hauled away in Middletown to allow the owners to retire on the money they've made off the city so far. 
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 4:46pm
As of this afternoon. Hate to see it go.....went to Jr. High School at Roosevelt.
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 03 2010 at 6:57pm
409- you can almost see the ghosts of Ralph Rettig hanging around when they were tearing into the gymnasium on the east end can't you? How about Valda Wilkerson, Homer Sorrell, Edith Matson, Kiki Demetrion, JR Line, Mr. Krebs, Ms. Boeke, Harvey Apple and others from the 60's who taught there. Memories headed to the landfill. Guess they call this progress.  And all that money spent for the new windows in that school several years ago. Mercy! Would have been nice to take a final tour before this.
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 12:41am
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Vet....remember them all. Played some ball for Ralph back in those days. I did some digging around and found my 1961 Rotaro (Orator) yearbook. It's the only one from Roosevelt I have left. Don't know what happened to the others. This one has been damp at some point in time and is a little yellowed.
Aside from the teachers info and the usual stuff, I find the ads at the back from mostly defunct merchants interesting. Hagias Candies, Allsports, Wilmer Motors, Union Sanitary, Mayer Meat Co., Sam Bartell's Shoes, Liberty, Greene & Ladd, Revelos Confectionary (formerly Elite), Marconi Electrical Service, Gough-Lamb, Community Store, Burnett's, Davidson Photo, Robersons, Filsons, Borden's Dairy, Dagenbach Shoes, Murphy's, Vradelis, Heber Jones, Lewis Drugs, Osborne Studios, Coca Cola Bottling Co., Dohn's, Ortman-Stewart, C.E. Greathouse & Son, Corner Men's Shop, Chapple Leasing, Consolidated, Gillen-Crow, Office Outfitters, Matthews, Peck's Flower Shop, Frisch's, Buckeye Paper, Baker's Jewelry, L&S Paint, John Ross Store, Parrot, Stokes Dairy, Ross Motors, Tobias Studio, Halsey's Men's Shop, Miller's Jewelry, Middletown Lincoln-Mercury, Schiff's Shoes, John Arpp Co., Norris Music, Hatfield Coal, Miller Ins., Central Store, Worthmore Clothes, Roger's Jewelry, Reed-Klopp Co., Irene's Beauty Solon, Diamond-National, First National & Barnitz Banks.
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Posted By: TudorBrown
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 2:32am
Can someone please explain to me exactly why in the hell they would even consider tearing down this great building? |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 6:57am
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409- Think I still have the green covered and white covered Rotaro from Roosevelt. 7th grade (would have been 1961) and 8th I think. You remember a kid who played basketball named Jerry Birkheimer. Good friend and ex-neighbor of mine growing up on Grand. Haven't seen him in 40+ years.
Hey- Norris Music on First next to the old library. Took trumpet lessons there on Sat morning. "Shorty" Norris owned the place. Mr. Buck was the trumpet teacher. How about Goldflies (sp?) Music on Clinton by the intersection with 1st Ave? Remember most of the others and their locations that you have listed. There was a large number of shoe stores in the downtown area back then, weren't there? Hatfield Coal next to Divers on 1st, wasn't it? Where was Davidson Photo before they moved out to the Midd. Shopping Ctr? Bought alot of record albums there. Many of these buildings still standing although vacant now. Where was Matthews, Buckeye Paper, Stokes/ Bordens Dairy? Remember heading down Central to the Community Store on the corner of Shafor and Central for some after school snacks and to socialize. Got some older kids to buy me some rum-soaked crooks to smoke. Nice sweet cigar. Good times! 
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 8:35am
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Vet....My 1961 Rotaro has a red cover.
I remember Jerry...tall guy.
Hatfield Coal was next to Diver's. They had their address listed as CENTRAL AVE. & BIG 4! Phone# GA 2-6386
Davidson's was always in the Middletown Shopping Ctr. as best I remember.
Mathews- 1015 Central GA 2-7551 -The old GArden exchange!
Buckeye Paper Products- not sure where they were located. Paper, Janitor, Restaurant Supply House.
Stokes Dairy- Meadowgold Products
Borden Dairy- 10 Bellemonte. Was on the west side just off of Central. An apartment building sits there now.
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 10:40am
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Birkheimer- yep, tall and thin- called him "Bird". Hung around with Danny Strickland.
Remember the Garden prefix when dialing the phone. Also the party lines where I use to interrupt the conversations by making smart a-- little comments while the people talked. Meadowgold milk delivered in the yellow step vans and placed in the metal boxes on the porches. Had the paper inner/outer caps in the glass bottles. Now you have me wondering what years my green and white (school colors at Roosevelt (the Teddies)) Rotaros are. ????? 
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 4:36pm
 
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 04 2010 at 5:17pm
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Little bit of the old track around the football field left. In 9th grade pole vaulted in the area of the infield on your first picture upper left hand corner. Alot of Roosevelt/McKinley football rivalry games played on that field.
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 1:44pm
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 09 2010 at 9:54pm
 
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 10 2010 at 7:12am
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Need to save the cuppola/weathervane on the roof. Put it out by the 75 gateway, place a light in it as a beacon of hope for all the voucher folks! Just kiddin'. Gyms gone- wonder where the backboards and rims are? All those relatively new windows-shattered. So much for the long term use of taxpayer monies. Looks like the auditorium side of the building is next.
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Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 10 2010 at 9:47pm
 
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Posted By: SupportMiddletown
Date Posted: Nov 10 2010 at 10:55pm
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Thanks for the update. |
Posted By: Wots
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 5:12pm
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So
Are "they" done gutting the heart out of Middletown?
What's next on the wrecking balls hit list?
Is the old library still standing, or? ------------- Wots Liberalism: Moochers Electing Looters to Steal from Producers. |
Posted By: SupportMiddletown
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 5:26pm
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^The Studio Theater and old First Baptist on Main will probably fall sometime in the future, I would guess.
The STM site by Bicenntinneal Commons will be demolished very soon through a state brownfield grant.
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Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 5:51pm
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Wots, would you suggest that we continue to leave buildings standing that do not have any realistic use and cannot be modified in a cost effective manner because of wiring, etc?
All these people living in the past.....
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Posted By: Pacman
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 6:53pm
| I have to agree with you Bill i don't get it either. We complain about being left behind and then every time a useless or a building that would cost more to renovate than to build new is torn down everyone complains about. Folks just what are you going to do with all of these old buildings, where the remediation of Asbestos and mold and Mildew, etc and updating to current standards is not cost effective? What use are they? |
Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 7:34pm
| It's like the building of the new elementaries -- some people would rather pay for the constant upkeep of the old buildings and the exorbitant cost to wire it for computers, take care of mold, leaking roofs, etc. instead of spending the same or less for new buildings. Plus the state kicked in most of the money. |
Posted By: 409
Date Posted: Nov 11 2010 at 8:52pm
The balcony of the auditorium can be seen in these.
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 7:10am
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Pac and Bill- I understand your thinking on tearing down all these older buildings with no apparent use. I understand clearing the land for potential new development. One thing that is hard to explain here.
I won't speak for the other "long timers" like Mike or Spider, but as an older long time resident, who was born here, I have a hard time seeing these things go because they represent a better time for me here in town. They are "monuments" of a better time when the town was run correctly. When I drive down Central and glance over at Roosevelt (always was Jr. High to me), I remember good times. Same goes for The Jug, the downtown area (or what's left of it), old Middletown High (Vail now) the Middletown Shopping Center, going past the boyhood neighborhood on Grand around Kensington and Dorset, etc. Seeing these buildings/areas takes me back and (as corny as this sounds), puts a little smile on my face providing a little comfort...something that doesn't happen anymore for me. I realize this doesn't do the town any good, but it sure helps me seeing those when I'm a tad bit depressed. Yep, I admit to "living in the past" at times. That is where the comfort is, if only for a brief moment. |
Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 7:24am
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Vet, I understand. When you combine a terrible present day situation in town with the losing of old landmarks, it must feel like a double punch to the gut. I get a little of that feeling seeing Sunset Pool unused, seeing Dillard's empty (used to go there alot with family), and even seeing some of the upper end neighborhoods now look like places that have come down a notch or two.
However there is the occasional person on this board who feels landmarks should not be torn down and that "someone" could make a good X,Y, or Z out of it, even though the free market has deemed the location worthless. A similar thing is happening in Cincinnati where the "Gamble house" (inventor of Ivory soap) is sitting there in a dilipated condition and his descendants want it torn down and will donate the land for a small park. Sound great, right? NO, some councilman who likes to spend everyone else's money, Charlie Winburn, is pushing to have the city spend $750,000 to buy it and turn it into a "museum." (Crazy! Who will go see it?)
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Posted By: Wots
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 10:58am
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Bill
It was suggested turning it into a senior apartment type of building like it was done elsewhere. What studies were done to find another use for what I would consider a landmark building?
I understand that there is some artsy thing coming to town. If this ever gets off the ground I'm sure the patrons would have loved seeing that old building, instead of another green space.
Anything wrong with having a past to be proud of instead of taking the wrecking ball to it?
Anything wrong with preserving historic places?
"All these people living in the past.....
" Along these lines how about paving over the old cemetery.From where I am standing the city is quick on the trigger. Who is making the money on these demos?
So tell me
Is Middletown Cutting off the nose to spite the face? ------------- Wots Liberalism: Moochers Electing Looters to Steal from Producers. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 11:22am
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Why am I sitting here thinking about the Pretenders song about going back to Ohio and the place was a parking lot? Someone call that up and post it from You Tube. Can't do You Tube here at work.
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Posted By: wasteful
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 11:27am
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WOTS they may seem to be quick at the trigger, but that is only due to the fact that past Admin. have been lackadaisical in doing their jobs. The past is over with, it is the future that will draw new residents if the City can bring itself back into the 21st century.
How many Seniors that have graduated out of Middletown and gone on to college in the last 5 years are returning to live and work in Middletown. Not many. If you continue to live in your past your children with make their own future elsewhere.
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Posted By: Bill
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 12:34pm
| Wots, who exactly would "turn it into" something? I'm not real familiar with senior housing but since most of it involves HUD money due to the # of seniors with lower income, disabilities, etc. there are specific criteria for these kind of projects. Usually new construction would be done. Also, to renovate with all that asbestos, mold, etc? Not a chance. Again, lots of pie in the sky talk about alternate uses but no one does anything. Wasn't Sam Ashworth heading up a group that was looking into this? No results. Maybe if it was in a better area wth more business interest, there could be some options, but this is Middletown, Ohio we're talking about, not South Beach, Connecticut or southern California. |
Posted By: Marcia Andrew
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 2:07pm
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We waited more than 2 years since Roosevelt has been empty to tear it down, to give the Historical Society time to look into the feasibility of "turning it into something." They raised money to do a study. The study revealed that it would cost millions of dollars to turn Roosevelt into multi-use office space, and that the project would only be marketable if the School District moved its central administrative offices there, and paid rent. Right now, although the administrative offices are barely adequate, we own the building and therefore do not pay rent, just utilities and maintenance. There is no money in the budget to pay rent for administrative offices.
As for senior housing, several casual observers have suggested that, but again there is no market. As Doug Adkins' recent report in connection with Section 8 showed, there is a huge surplus of rental units in Middletown. There is also a surplus of large, empty unused office/industrial buildings. There is just no market demand for used office or residential. It would be difficult to finance a renovation on speculation of renting once renovated. Also, back when the original elementary building project was planned, Roosevelt was evaluated and it was found that it would cost more to renovate it and bring it up to current state standards for schools, than to build new. The students who used to go to Roosevelt elementary now attend Highview, for the most part. The district reduced from 10 old elementary buildings to 6 new and 2 renovated elementary buildings. They have all won energy-efficiency awards and saved the district several hundred thousand dollars in utilities costs already.
I cannot speak to the buildings the City is tearing down, but would guess that similar considerations are in play. And AK is a private business tearing its own headquarters down, not the City or the School District. I can only assume that AK tried to sell the property before it started demolition.
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Posted By: randy
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 2:56pm
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Just for you Vet
------------- Call me for a www.CameraSecurityNow.com" rel="nofollow - www.CameraSecurityNow.com quote 513-422-1907 x357 |
Posted By: Pacman
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 4:05pm
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Mrs. Andrew is right on the money here with not only Old School Buildings but all buildings in Middletown that have out lived there useful life. If you do not have someone in the wings with the money to rehab these places into usable Office space they need to go. All you need to do is look at Sorg when you sell a building to someone that dosen't have the financial resources to bring it back to life in a reasonable amount of time.
We also don't need anymore Low income anything in Middletown we have far to much already and need to do away with much of it.
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Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 4:10pm
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Thank you randy!
Good explanation Ms. Andrew on the economics of old versus new. You, Bill and Pac make sense on this. Just hard for us older citizens to let go. Hope you understand the sentiment we have for some things in our hometown. As I tried to explain to Bill, when the buildings are torn down, it's almost like the demolition of some of our memories go with them to the landfill. Corny...maybe, but tugs at the old emotions a little. |
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Nov 12 2010 at 4:25pm
Did many a study hall in that auditorium 409. Played the old trumpet on that stage facing that balcony too. Guess the stage is under that pile of rubble somewhere. Thanks again for the pictures and memories. 
Save the cupola! (Clock tower- Back To The Future)
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Posted By: TudorBrown
Date Posted: Nov 13 2010 at 3:03pm
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Old School Buildings: Prehistoric or Worth Preserving?
A report from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) makes a case for renovating old school buildings instead of razing them. Although demolition might be the wisest choice in some instances, the NTHP offers resources for helping school boards decide whether to raze or renovate. Education World spoke with members of three communities that have faced that dilemma. Included: Resources from the NTHP and the National Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities. http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues172.shtml |
Posted By: TudorBrown
Date Posted: Nov 13 2010 at 3:06pm
Are you claiming that it would cost more to renovate Roosevelt than it would to tear the school down and build some disposable looking new building that could never ever compare to Roosevelt's beauty, and quality of construction? |
Bill wrote:Posted By: Pacman
Date Posted: Nov 13 2010 at 3:29pm
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Tudor I believe that is exactly what Mrs. Andrew is saying as far as Roosevelt is concerned.
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Posted By: TudorBrown
Date Posted: Nov 13 2010 at 5:47pm
I have a hard time believing the cost of demolition, and rebuilding is more than renovation... |
Posted By: viper771
Date Posted: Nov 14 2010 at 1:59am
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I am with you on that in some ways Tudor. They do it all the time in Europe when they can among other places. Besides, a lot of materials in new construction aren't even made in the US (look at a box of nails or screws for instance) :( A lot of these old places were made to last. The materials used back then are not as abundant anymore either. I am kind of surprised that more renovation isn't going on, since the "going green" stuff is in.
As for the school, if there was a demand, I could see whoever gutting the building, leaving the shell..then just revamping it to whatever they wanted it to be. At least it would be pretty much a "new" building, with the original old exterior. But, I know that you can't save everything. I tried to restore a 68 GTO convertible, but she was just too far gone... I could have done it, but it would have really cost a truck load of money. So I just try to fix up my old house :)
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Posted By: Wots
Date Posted: Nov 14 2010 at 12:37pm
Me thinks your being a bit to presumptuous. If by living in my past means I enjoy old architectural buildings, then I am guilty as charged. And what on Gods green acre do my kids have to do with this?
I would not call the previous administrations lackadaisical. I would call it gross incompetence, being the cause of many things gone wrong. Instead of doing updates thru the years IE new electrical, plumbing, asbestos removal etc.
Instead of addressing the issues, it is kicked down the road to the point that it is cheaper to do a tear down.
So tell me
Is Middletown Cutting off the nose to spite the face? ------------- Wots Liberalism: Moochers Electing Looters to Steal from Producers. |
Posted By: wasteful
Date Posted: Nov 14 2010 at 12:55pm
You also don't seem to think that most Middle Class homeowners are not looking for modern up to date schools for their children, that they are instead like you looking for schools built a century ago. The fact that you like old architecture has absolutely nothing to do with what is best for a younger generation and the future growth of Middletown.
Middletown has cut off it's nose to spite it's face many years ago and refuses to seen the plastic surgeon to have the damage repaired. This in many instances is the fault of the older generation who can't see the Forrest for the trees and continues with the wearing of blinders when it comes to bringing Middletown into at least the late 20th century.
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