Herald News Report

FAIRBORN – The City of Fairborn continues to prepare for revitalization along the Broad Street corridor as another antiquated building is removed. The demolition of Dizzy Jim’s, 122 N. Broad Street, is in the final clean up stages to prepare the area for future redevelopment. The final grade and seeding of the lot is scheduled for completion by months end.

The removal of the Command Motel at 130 N. Broad Street and Dizzy Jim’s are just the beginning to making Broad Street a more vibrant area for consumers and businesses, according to Public Relations Specialist Katie Lewallen of the City of Fairborn. Community Development Director Mike Gebhart said eliminating inventory that doesn’t meet today’s market demands is necessary to bring in new business.

Economic Development Director Chris Wimsatt adds that in order to drive private sector investments, a number of steps need to be taken to fulfill business needs.

“Potential new operators request larger, clean, shovel-ready sites,” Wimsatt said. “They are interested in being a part of a new revitalization effort that can support their operation. The focus on new housing developments, business outreach, marketing and revitalization address all of those concerns. In the end, we are simply listening to market demands and reacting accordingly to make ourselves more competitive.”

The Community Development Division continually reviews both the housing and business inventory that fall below standard code or are in non-building code compliance. Currently, there are six residential properties scheduled for demolition due to structural integrity issues, as well as being unfit for human occupancy. The properties slated for demolition go to bid this month followed by presentation to Council in October. If approved, these blighted structures will be removed by Dec. 31.

“The removal of structurally unsound buildings is part of the ground work needed to help attract new businesses and repurpose areas, including Broad Street,” Gebhart said. “Our goal is to make shovel-ready sites to attract a variety of new businesses to support not only Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – but the community as a whole.”

The city has eliminated more than 20 structures since 2013 that were found to be structurally unsound, blighted, unsanitary and uninhabitable. Removal of blighted structures helps to stabilize property values as well as deter crime.