Conover Building | |
Location | 4 S. Main St., Dayton, Ohio |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°45′33″N84°11′29″W / 39.75917°N 84.19139°W Coordinates: 39°45′33″N84°11′29″W / 39.75917°N 84.19139°W |
Area | Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
Built | 1900 |
Architect | Frank Mills Andrews; O.W. Ketcham Terra Cotta Works |
Architectural style | Renaissance, Eclectic Renaissance Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 75001497 [1] |
Added to NRHP | October 14, 1975 |
The Conover Building, also known as Wright Stop Plaza, is a historic structure in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Constructed at the turn of the twentieth century, the Conover features a mix of architectural styles and sits at a prominent intersection, and it has been named a historic site.
The Conover Building features a mix of brick and stone on its exterior, although the design also employs terra cotta for peripheral purposes; [2] much of the supporting structure relies on concrete and steel. [3] Its overall design mixes elements from multiple sub-styles of Neo-Renaissance architecture, [1] in addition to occasional Neoclassical details and themes. The architect was Frank Mills Andrews, whose work gained him fame throughout the United States. [3]
Erected just eight years after Dayton's first skyscraper, [4] the Conover Building stands thirteen stories tall. Its bottom four stories retain a typical commercial design, featuring an arcade, and Baroque styling appears on the top three stories, while the plainer six stories in the middle are distinguished by trabeating at their summit. [3] Situated on the southeastern corner of Third and Main Streets, it lies near the United Brethren Publishing House, the Commercial Building, and the Dayton Arcade. [4]
The site of the Conover Building has been used for commercial purposes for more than two centuries, beginning with the opening of a blacksmith shop by New Jersey native Obadiah Conover in 1811. The present structure was erected on the site in 1900, [3] and within a few years of its construction, it was recognized as one of Dayton's most prominent office towers; during the Miami River flood of 1913, when the Miami and Mad Rivers broke their dikes and flash-flooded the downtown, many pedestrians took refuge in the Conover Building's upper stories. [5]
Nearly a century later, by which time the Conover had also attracted the name of "American Building", [1] it became viewed as Dayton's most dangerous intersection: repeated incidents of crime at the adjacent central bus station led local media to deem the junction of Third and Main the "Corner of Chaos". Crime efforts have since fallen substantially, due to a reorganization of the city's bus hub and the restructuring of various other components in the area's built environment. [6]
In 1975, the Conover Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its distinctive historic architecture. [1] It qualified for inclusion partly because of its place in the entire city's skyline, in addition to its place as a prominent example of Frank Andrews' designs. [3]
In 1998, the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (known as the Miami Valley Regional Transit Authority at that time) renovated the building and moved its administrative offices into it. [7] The renovation encompassed the entire 13-story building. [8] The building subsequently became known as Wright Stop Plaza. RTA's Wright Stop Plaza Transit Center opened immediately to the south in 2009.
Dayton is the sixth-largest city in the state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Dayton was estimated to be at 814,049 residents. The Combined Statistical Area (CSA) was 1,086,512. This makes Dayton the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Ohio and 73rd in the United States. Dayton is within Ohio's Miami Valley region, 50 miles (80 km) north of the Greater Cincinnati area.
Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, York and Jacob Streets to the south, and 9th Street to the west. As of 2015, the population of Downtown Louisville was 4,700, although this does not include directly surrounding areas such as Old Louisville, Butchertown, NuLu, and Phoenix Hill.
The McPherson Town Historic District of Dayton, Ohio, contains roughly 90 structures north of downtown Dayton, across the Great Miami River.
21 West Street, also known as Le Rivage Apartments, is a 33-story building located in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City, on Morris Street between West Street and Washington Street. It was built in 1929–1931 as a speculative office tower development in anticipation of an increased demand for office space in Lower Manhattan. The building was converted into apartments in 1997 and was renamed Le Rivage.
The Alms and Doepke Dry Goods Company is a historic commercial building in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Located along Central Parkway on the edge of downtown, it is a late Victorian structure designed by Samuel Hannaford, a renowned Cincinnati architect.
The Hooper Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Built to a design by a master architect, it is named for an executive of its first occupant, and it has been named a historic site.
The Landt Building is a historic house in the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Constructed at the end of the nineteenth century, it has been named one of the neighborhood's numerous historic sites.
The Dayton Arcade is a collection of nine buildings in Dayton, Ohio. The Arcade is a historic, architecturally elegant complex in the heart of Dayton's central business district. Built between 1902 and 1904, it was conceived by Eugene J. Barney of the Barney & Smith Car Company and consists of nine interconnecting buildings topped by a glass-domed rotunda, 70 feet (21 m) high and 90 feet (27 m) in diameter, below which two balconied upper floors circle the central enclave. As president of the Arcade Company, Barney made sure the Arcade had the latest innovations, including elevators, a power plant and a cold-storage plant. The architect was Frank M. Andrews, known also as architect for many of NCR's factory buildings and the American Building at Third and Main Streets in Dayton.
The Commercial Building is a historic skyscraper in central Dayton, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the early twentieth century, it played an important part in the development of the western portion of downtown Dayton, and it is one of the most prominent surviving examples of the work of one of the most significant architects in the city's history. Located at the edge of what was once one of the city's leading commercial complexes, it has been named a historic site.
First Lutheran Church is a historic Lutheran church in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1900s for a large congregation, its architecture includes numerous elements seen in older grand churches, and it has been named a historic site.
The Insco Apartments is a historic apartment building in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. It was designed by Charles Insco Williams, a native of Dayton, and constructed in 1894. Williams designed the structure after an apartment hotel that he had seen on Fifth Avenue in New York City; he did not copy the design slavishly, but many of the architectural themes present in the Insco Apartments were derived ultimately from the unspecified New York City apartment building.
The Benjamin F. Kuhns Building is a historic commercial building on Main Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Distinguished by its little-modified late nineteenth-century architecture, it has been named a historic site.
The Lindsey Building is a historic commercial building in the downtown section of the city of Dayton, Ohio, United States. Built in the early twentieth century, the Lindsey has been named a historic site.
The Centre City Building is an historic building at 36-44 South Main Street at the corner of East Fourth Street in downtown Dayton, Ohio. It was designed by Charles Herby and built in 1904 by the F.A. Requarth Co. for the sum of $305,000 as the headquarters of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ Christian denomination. Originally 14 stories, it was the tallest building in Dayton from 1904 until 1931. A seven-story tower portion was completed in 1924, capped by a chapel for the Church, making it 21 stories total. It is considered to have been Dayton's first skyscraper.
Dr. Jefferson A. Walters House is a historic residence in downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Built in 1832 and one of the city's older houses, it was home to two prominent residents of early Dayton, and it has been named a historic site.
The Abrams Building was located at South Pearl Street and Hudson Avenue in Albany, New York, United States. It was a brick commercial building constructed in the 1880s. In 1980 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Rudolph Pretzinger House is a historic residence in southern Dayton, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the late nineteenth century for a prominent local pharmacist, it now abuts a city hospital, but it has been named a historic site.
The Graphic Arts Building is a historic commercial building on the edge of downtown Dayton, Ohio, United States. Built in the 1920s, it long housed the publishing house of a Protestant denomination, and it has been named a historic site.
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church is a historic Lutheran church in downtown Springfield, Ohio, United States. Founded as a German-speaking parish in Springfield's early days, it grew rapidly during its first few decades, and its present large church building was constructed in the 1890s under the direction of one of Springfield's leading architects. The congregation remains in the landmark church building, which has been named a historic site.
The Christian Dick Block is a historic commercial building located at 106 East Doty Street in Madison, Wisconsin. The building was constructed in 1889 for liquor wholesaler Christian Dick. The prominent Madison architectural firm of Conover & Porter designed the Richardsonian Romanesque style building; it is one of the city's earliest extant examples of both the firm's work and the style. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.