Dave Williams – All about the Restoration of The Arcade in Dayton

Will Cale Scholarship Winners

Gary Hansen, the Will Cale Scholarship committee chair, introduced the recipients of this year’s Will Cale Scholarships.

The CNO Will Cale Scholarship award was first given in 2010 and is named after long-time educator Will Cale. Will Cale is a current member of CNO and joined CNO in January, 1976.

These scholarships are awarded to students who have obstacles to overcome to attend college. Each year we ask High School guidance counselors to recommend students they believe will be successful at Sinclair Community College if they were to receive some financial help and personal mentorship. The selection criteria are based on financial need and potential rather than academics or class standing. The student must attend Sinclair College to receive the scholarship.

The scholarship provides up to $4500, up to $750 per semester for up to six semesters. This is enough funding for an associate degree or a certificate. The money can also be used to purchase needed equipment or supplies such as a computer or books. The goal is for the recipient to graduate from Sinclair with an Associate Degree. The hope is that some of them will continue their schooling and earn 4-year degrees. If they choose not to continue school, they should still have enough education and training for a successful career. Not every student accepts the award. They may not want to go to Sinclair or they choose a different career path.

In addition to the funding, each winner is assigned two volunteer mentors that are CNO members. These mentors advise the students throughout their Sinclair career.

2020 Will Cale Scholarship Winners and Mentors

• Carter Heys, Steve Rau & Diane Arehart
• Katelyn Leslie, Roberta Taylor and Jayne Weikel
• Kristopher Leslie, Bob Collins and Joan Cordonnier
• Ayan Siyr, Gary Hansen and Jesse Lightle
• Lizzie Sparks, Joanne Rau and Jane Fiehrer

Zoe Pirslin the 2018 Will Cale Scholarship Winner

We congratulated Zoe Pirslin, who was on the Zoom meeting today. She is a 2018 Will Cale scholarship winner. She just graduated from Sinclair with a 4.0 GPA and earned a degree in graphics design. Her mentors are Gary Hansen and Jane Fiehrer. She was very shy when they met her. At that time, her brother was helping to take care of her. During the meeting she thanked all of us and said that she is still using all the equipment we helped her purchase so she could attend college successfully. She is currently looking for a job in graphics design.

David Williams discusses the Dayton Arcade

Greg Griffin introduced David Williams, the Senior Development Director at Cross Street Partners. He manages The Dayton Arcade adaptive reuse and historic preservation project in Dayton, Ohio. He oversees the design, construction, leasing, and financing for the project.

His presentation was titled The Arcade, “History Made Here”. View his slide deck here.

Williams is part of the task force created to figure out what to do with the Dayton Arcade and surrounding buildings in Downtown Dayton. Tearing it down was the first thought. Historical buildings downtown, however, are important to the character and appeal of a downtown you are trying to revitalize. They realized that for the good of the Dayton community, they needed to preserve buildings like the Dayton Arcade.

Williams said that the development team is a very seasoned group that understand how to turn old buildings into useful structures again.

Businesses on the team

• Cross Street Partners
• McCormack Baron Salazar
• Model Group
• Structural Technologies

The main challenge of the renovation was figuring out what was possible with the building type and its age. The building has been empty since 1991. They have chosen to return the building to its original 1902 design. They are returning it to its original mixed-use property of housing, office, and retail. It will be a place to live, shop, eat and to host events. They say it will “engage, sustain, entertain” and have a sense of “place.”

The Arcade has gotten national attention. There is an article by Bruce Katz titled, The Most Transformative Project in America in the November 21, 2019 issue of New Localism magazine. It is called by many The Most emotional building in Dayton Ohio.

Comprised of 9 square blocks in downtown Dayton Ohio, The Arcade and surrounding properties were purchased in 2017 with construction starting in 2018. The arcade sits at the northeast corner of the nine blocks with proximity to the Levitt Pavilion, the Dayton Convention Center and the Oregon District. To make it very accessible when complete there will be 5000 parking spots scattered throughout the area.

There will be 110 affordable housing units, art galleries, studios, restaurants, and a grocery at the Arcade. Through a partnership with the University of Dayton, there will also be classrooms. There will be 100,000 square feet of innovation space and private offices. Below the main floor, they dug the basement deeper and it will now hold a high-tech presentation theater.

The project is being financed with over 100 million in funding. Sources of funds include tax credits, grants, and loans. The City of Dayton has lent them $10 million.

Dayton Arcade Social Media Links

• Facebook
• Twitter

Dayton Children’s Donation accepted by Adam Blanchard

Adam Blanchard from Dayton Children’s hospital was on the Zoom meeting today. The Centerville Noon Optimist Club donated $15,000 to Dayton Children’s Hospital this summer. Traditionally, our donation is funded from the golf outing. The 2020 CNO golf outing was cancelled, but our board of director’s decided to still make a major donation to the hospital.

The money we donate to the hospital is put into the patient assistance fund for oncology and hematology. Money is given to the families of patients to help with the costs of transportation and lodging incurred when bringing their children to the hospital for treatment. Some families must travel a great distance to get the amazing treatment available in our community.

Adam Blanchard thanked us for our continued support. He said that brings our total donations over the last 18 years to just short of $190,000.

Who can Attend Zoom Meetings?

Any member of any type of Centerville Noon Optimist can attend Zoom meetings. CNO 2.0, St Leonard’s and CNO full members or CNO monthly members can ALL attend.

Guests are also welcome. Please invite guests and introduce them if you like. Just share the Zoom link with them for that week.