Dayton’s Abandoned Skyscraper Where the Wright Brothers Had an Office
An incredible abandoned skyscraper (though no longer an official skyscraper as of today’s definition) that not only held a recording studio, and luxurious penthouse suite, but many other operations throughout. The Wright brothers even had an office here. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 10, 1993. Let’s take a moment and dive a bit deeper into the history of this building.
The city of Dayton, Ohio in Montgomery County holds some very cool history, and Centre City Building (formerly known as the United Brethren Building) is one of the larger abandoned structures in the entire state. At 21 stories tall, this building designed by Charles Herby towers over Dayton’s downtown streets. As of 2020, Centre City remains the 8th tallest building in the city. This structure once used daily by many now remains just a shell of what was once a place filled with the hustle and bustle of Southwestern Ohio life; which is just like all other Ohio life, but I imagine with more corn.
Early history
Centre City was built in 1904 by the F.A. Requarth Co. at a cost of $305,000, and was originally put to use as the headquarters of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ Christian denomination, serving multiple uses. When construction was completed, the building originally had only 14 stories, which was still rather impressive in 1904. In fact, in its time, it was tall enough to be deemed a skyscraper. Into the late 20th century, skyscrapers were defined as buildings of 10 to 20 stories, but later changed to describe high-rise buildings of unusual height, generally greater than 40 or 50 stories.
Once the tallest building in Dayton
While it remains only the 8th tallest today, it was in fact the tallest building in Dayton when it was built, from 1904-1931. In 1927, a 7-story tower addition was made to the north side of the building, capped by a chapel for the church. This addition brought the building to a total of 21 stories, at which it stands today. In the 1920s, it was said to be the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world, and remains today the only example of a Chicago Commercial style skyscraper in Dayton, Ohio.
During its early life, it held the general offices of the church, and the United Brethren Publishing House. United Brethren Publishing House was founded in 1834 in Circleville, OH, but moved to Dayton shortly after. They had become one of the most prominent publishers of religious books at the time.
The Wright brothers move to Dayton
Another interesting piece of history this building holds includes some ties to the Wright Brother’s and their father, Milton. Milton was a minister (later a bishop) for the Church of the United Brethren. In 1869, he was brought on as editor of the church newspaper. Seeing as Dayton was the location of the publishing office, Milton decided to pack up and move the family to the city that same year. The family moved around a few more times – once to Cedar Rapids, IA, and again to Richmond, IN before finally moving back to settle in Dayton for good.
The brothers rent an office
Around 1910, Wilbur and Orville rented office space in room 1310 for the Wright Company Exhibition Department. There was a short period of time when the brothers had focused more on flying demonstrations, rather than manufacturing airplanes. The business was short-lived after a couple team members died in plane crashes. The Wrights quickly dissolved their part of the company.
Later years
After some time, United Brethren transitioned into retail, and the building had become home to the Adler and Child’s department store. After some years as a department store, the building was sold in 1952 to the Knott Hotel group from New York. It would go on to be known as the Knott Building until 1975, when it was sold to new owners – Albert and Essie Vontz. They had converted the top floor into their personal residence; a luxurious suite where they resided for many years. From then into the early 2000s, the building held numerous other things on lower floors, including a recording studio, salon and other offices. Around the mid-2000s, the final tenants left and the building has sat empty since.
While numerous ideas have been proposed for development between different owners, nothing has yet been attempted. The building received $5 million in state historic tax credits, but even with that amount, it would be nearly impossible to make enough of a difference in restoration and reuse. As of May 2020, the building remains for sale at a price of $4 million.
Current day
It’s uncertain what the future holds for this historic structure, but there are hopes from many that someday someone will come along with the means to bring it back to life and further the revitalization and redevelopment of this area of downtown Dayton.
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Beautiful, eerie photos!