herr2ck: Springfield Trip, pt. 4

March 2025.

In this penultimate Springfield entry, I explore West High Street starting at Fisher Street and proceeding westward. I’ll include a couple on Center Street and the Pennsylvania House.

Tecumseh Building/Francis J. Drolla Building

This Beaux-Arts skyscraper serves as a bookend to what used to be a thriving block of commercial buildings. All of the sources online besides one regurgitate the same information from Wikipedia, so I guess I’ll do the same. Built in 1922 by architects J. A. Poss and William Earl Russ for the Francis J. Drolla Company (an “investment house”), it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. It held 41 tenants by 1926, but was vacant by 1988.

The building remains somewhat intact, and Springfield plans to preserve it for the future. However, it currently sits in limbo.

It’s always weird to see these Gilded Age structures standing tall and lonely like this.

38 West High Street/Delscamp Lofts

This Romanesque Revival building was built as a warehouse in 1895. It was converted to lofts in 2003, the first such project in Springfield. I like the intact ornamentation across the building.

Interior of one of the lofts. (Zillow)

42 West High Street/Bloomingdeal’s/Sue’s Furniture

Historic photo of 42 West High Street, plus adjoining 38 West High Street. (Craig Dillon Architects)

42 West High Street is a Commercial style building with simple classical details, such as Ionic pilasters, a denticulated cornice, and oxeye windows. Its original central entrance and base were obscured at some point, likely during the mid-century era. The cornice and storefront were repainted before 2007, and new awnings were installed. Bloomingdeals, the tenant dating from 1958, moved out in April 2013 after the owner retired. Currently, the building is occupied by Sue’s Furniture.

First Congregational Church/Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church

Historic photo of First Congregational. (Better Pipe Organ Database)

This once-flamboyant church building is in shoddy shape today. I could hardly find any information on it either, only that it was built as the First Congregational Church in 1888 and another congregation called “Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church” occupied the building for a time. By 2017, the building was empty, and it remains so today.

The church is in this weird state of limbo between retaining certain original features while others are long-removed. The elaborate cupola atop the roof and the crown of the bell tower have been removed. However, the church still sports its original stained glass and even wooden sash windows. This is likely due to deferred maintenance as opposed to a desire for preserving these features, though. Certain areas of the building have had their exterior altered, like the crappy vinyl siding on the southeast projection and the stucco covering the bricks.

This one is tough because the church has been stripped much of its historic integrity, but the preservationist in me wants to save everything. Springfield hasn’t earmarked the building for demolition yet (and in fact considers it historic and worthy of reuse), so things could turn out well for First Congregational.

Note the crumbling stucco here:

Realistically, old First Congregational would need extensive renovation work in order to make it occupiable once again, even excluding any historic preservation or restoration. I’d imagine the interior is shot from sitting empty for so long, and the exterior requires a lot of work. I do hope something happens and the building is saved, but I understand it’s pretty far gone.

Central Methodist Episcopal Church/Springfield Metropolis

A rendering of the church. (Central Community Center on Facebook)

This church’s cornerstone was laid in 1913, and it was completed by September 1914. It was designed by Dayton architect M. E. Russ in a late interpretation of the Gothic Revival style. The congregation either moved out or went defunct at an unknown date between 2007 and 2017. Another church (which could be the same one) called Faith United Methodist occupied the church by October 2017. From 2018-2020, the building held the Central Community Center, which is now located inside High Street United Methodist.

The church’s interior in November 2018. Note the intact woodwork. (Central Community Center on Facebook)

After the Central Community Center departed, the church sat vacant for the next three years. In 2023, developer Levi Duncan was granted a tax exemption to renovate the building into the Springfield Metropolis, an event venue inside the nave with commercial space within the old school annex. Unfortunately, this involved painting much of the historic woodwork white.

The rose window was replaced before 2007, long before Springfield Metropolis’ tenancy. The rest of the exterior is mostly intact, but the stained glass has been obscured by yellowing acrylic panels.

Brown Building

Not much to write about for this one, either. The Brown Building seems to have been built c. 1900-1920 in the Neoclassical style. Its brick facade is largely flat except for small hood molds above the windows, the cornice, and the arched entrance.

My two sources tell me that the Ohio Supply Co. occupied the building in 1954, and that it was where young men had to report for the draft during the Vietnam War.

Masonic Temple

Springfield’s 1927 Masonic Temple was designed by Ohio State university architect Howard Dwight Smith, as well as the firm Miller & Reeves. Its cornerstone was laid in 1924:

“A. L.” is an abbreviation for the Latin “anno lucis,” a dating system used by Freemasons that refers to the biblical account of creation, where God said “let there be light.”

This design is pretty typical across Smith’s Beaux-Arts designs at Ohio State. However, this temple largely lacks windows, which is deliberate.

The building remains largely intact today, and it still serves as a meeting place for nine Masonic lodges. Its ballroom can be rented out for events. The Masonic Temple was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Elks Lodge No. 51/Buckeye Sports Lodge

This Jacobethan Revival building was built as Springfield’s original Elks Lodge (number 51). The Elks departed in 2009 and currently occupy the old Northwood Hills Country Club. In January 2010, the Buckeye Sports Club was established, which is the current tenant.

First Lutheran Church

Historic photo of the church building. (First Lutheran Past Present and Future)

First Lutheran is the oldest Lutheran church within Springfield. It was founded in 1841, and Springfield’s Wittenberg University was established by the congregation. The existing church was built in 1869, which included the foundation, north wall, and west wall from the previous building. As a young contingent of Lutherans departed from the traditions of the congregation, they installed new stained-glass windows where plain glass existed before.

The original tower entrance was closed off between 1898 and 1905, replaced by four doors in the middle of the High Street side of the church. This was meant to represent the church’s openness to the community and reject its earlier, narrower views. The arch from the original door still stands, though now it has a window depicting Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

New furniture and interior decoration was added in 1911 by architect Robert Gotwald. A school addition was built in 1955 and the sanctuary was renovated, which allowed the church to remain downtown in an era of flight from Springfield’s center. This made the building accessible to people with disabilities. The mosaic above the entrance dates from this period, representing Jesus and the twelve Apostles:

Most recently, the sanctuary was renovated in 2005 in an effort to remain downtown.

Crowell Publishing Co. + Farm and Fireside Building [demolished]

c. 1944 postcard of the factory building. (eBay)

This was probably Springfield’s most infamous abandoned building, as it was the largest in the city and sat deteriorating for years. I missed its demolition by about five years and the site remains empty to this day.

The Crowell-Collier Publishing Company was founded by P. P. Mast in Springfield in 1877, which originally published a magazine advertising farm tools. Its founder sold the company to John Crowell in 1881.

The original company building, known as the Farm and Fireside Building. (Springfield News-Sun)

The company opened an office in New York City after Crowell sold his shares in 1906, but the new owners retained the name and Springfield location. After purchasing the Collier’s line of magazines in 1919, the company eventually acquired its best-known name of “Crowell-Collier Publishing Company.” The company moved its printing operations into Springfield during the 1920s, as postage was too expensive in New York.

The building’s sign c. 1930s-1940s. (Ohio History Connection)

The company began to struggle in the 1950s, when advertisers focused less on magazines in favor of television, which was growing in popularity. Its magazine lines were discontinued and the Springfield plant was closed and sold in 1957. The company eventually pivoted to publishing encyclopedias and books, later returning to magazines (albeit ones with an educational focus) in the late 1960s.

The factory in a transitional stage--the north wing stands, but the original Farm and Fireside Building has not yet been demolished. (Springfield News-Sun)

The building expanded into its best-known iteration during the 1920s. Building J, the tallest portion that replaced the Farm and Fireside Building, was built in 1927. The early Modern Building X was built on the northeast corner in 1947, which was the newest portion of the complex.

A look at the massive complex as it appeared prior to demolition. (Springfield News-Sun)

The factory became a liability for the buyers (R. R. Donnelley & Sons, who wanted to salvage the printing equipment), as they could not figure out an occupant for the newly-vacated space. The General Services Administration and a “regional worker retraining center” were possibilities, but the factory’s massive size made it difficult to fully occupy. It was donated to the University of Chicago in 1959. The city of Springfield purchased the building in 1972 and announced they would demolish the complex for the construction of a housing project, which never came to fruition.

A Columbus businessman named Harry Denune instead purchased the building at the end of that year for use by a manufacturing company he controlled. Denune renovated the complex starting in 1973 and used it as a distribution center. However, by 1997 the factory buildings were added to a list of sites that needed to be remediated due to pollution. In 1999, a fire started from improperly stored chemicals, which burned for eight hours and caused explosions as other chemicals caught fire.

The factory during its demolition. (Springfield News-Sun)

The factory suffered a fire again in May 2011 when a spark ignited flammable ceiling tiles on the first floor. It was confined to the northwest corner, but since it was the building’s second, courts ruled that it was a public nuisance because of its code violations. Denune cooperated with the order to remove his inventory and the asbestos from the complex, later selling the property to Mosier Industrial Services. That company was sued multiple times for its slowness to comply with court orders.

The demolition of Building F (the power plant) began in 2015. The remaining buildings were fully demolished starting in 2019.

Pennsylvania House

The house’s appearance c. 1908. (Wikipedia)

The Pennsylvania House is one of (if not the) oldest buildings in Springfield. It was built as a tavern by David Snively in 1822 along the National Road (US-40), which was the main artery of transportation west in the United States at the time. It was quickly modified to accommodate weary travelers, as demand for an inn allowed the building to grow very prosperous.

The Pennsylvania House began to decline in popularity in the 1840s, as the railroad had arrived in Springfield in 1846. A wing was added onto the house during the 1850s, but a decade later it saw such little traffic that it closed in 1869. It served as a doctor’s office, boarding house, and thrift store, retaining many original historic elements, but the building ultimately closed sometime after.

Springfield’s chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution saved the building from demolition in 1939. They still own the Pennsylvania House today and operate it as a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and it was most recently restored in 2006.

The final entry concludes my Springfield trip by exploring the East High Street Historic District.

Sources:

https://www.greaterspringfield.com/media/userfiles/subsite_181/files/publications/2020%20SpringFORWARD%20Springfield%20Downtown%20Vision%20Plan_lowres.pdf

https://archive.org/details/astandardhistor00pringoog

https://abandonedonline.net/location/tecumseh-building/

https://cedarchitects.com/portfolio/delscamp-loft-condominiums

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/38-W-High-St-Springfield-OH-45502/2076888359_zpid/

https://cedarchitects.com/portfolio/bloomingdeals

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/local/longtime-downtown-store-close/BTEqc254qH97OS4kHDTaGM/

https://altpod.pipe-organ.wiki/organ.php?id=60191

https://www.facebook.com/centralcommunitycenter/photos

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/event-center-dinner-theater-planned-for-downtown-springfield/7763IVLV3RCE7GSEMN5SUH6FJA/