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Columbus-ite.com wrote There may be hope for the Firestone Mansion.

I always say we should look to our past and to other cities for solutions to problems we’re facing, so I should have found this much earlier and thanks to UrbanOhio I found it. West Central, a beautiful, historic residential neighborhood in Fort Wayne faced the same dilemma we face here with great historic homes facing the wrecking ball. The Columbus Foundation stated that they don’t have use for the Firestone Mansion (still standing last I checked) and so are not going to dump $3 million and then some to pay for the upkeep of a building that no one else is occupying and have offered to sell the building for $1 if it is moved off of their property. I’m waiting to hear back from the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and need to ask OTENA if they have pursued what the West Central Neighborhood Association did; seek corporate sponsorship to move entire homes of historic significance, place them on new foundations and then sell them to private owners for renovation. Here are a couple of examples:

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Historic Broad Street house faces wrecking ball despite neighborhood opposition

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MELANIE MCINTYRE

Daily Reporter Staff Writer

12/12/2007

The Columbus Foundation has filed a permit with the city of Columbus to demolish a home at 1266 E. Broad St. Doing so would clear the way for construction of an overflow parking lot and greenspace that are part of the foundation’s expansion project which broke ground Aug. 1.

Not everyone is happy with the proposed expansion plans, however. Members of one local neighborhood association contend that tearing down the residence stamps out yet another important building from Columbus’ historic landscape.

The home facing demolition is known as the Joseph Firestone mansion, a 10,000-square-foot neo-Italian Renaissance-style home that is one of only two such homes remaining in Columbus, according to the Olde Towne East Neighborhood Association.

It was built at the turn of the 20th century by Firestone, who was then vice president of the Columbus Buggy Co. – one of the businesses that contributed to the city’s reputation as “buggy capital of the world” and thrust the Firestone family into the automotive tire business.

[url]http://www.sourcenews.com/news/index.lasso?-database=news5&-layout=web&-response=%2fnews%2fstory.lasso&-recordID=39962&-search[/url]

Press Release wrote Press Release

For Immediate Release

December 6, 2007

Neighbors Rally to Stop Demolition of E. Broad St. Mansion

Representatives of the Olde Towne East Neighborhood Association (OTENA) and other neareastside

community organizations will be facing off against the wrecking ball this weekend. A

meeting of the Near East Area Commission’s Zoning Committee will consider the fate of the historic

Firestone mansion at a site hearing this Saturday, December 8, at 11:00 a.m. The Columbus

Foundation has filed for a permit with the City of Columbus to demolish the home at 1266 E. Broad

St. to allow for construction of an overflow parking lot and greenspace as part of its site

development project.

The Firestone mansion is a 10,000 square-foot, neo-Italian Renaissance-style home, one of only

two remaining in Columbus. The home was built at the turn of the 20th century by Joseph Firestone,

who was Vice President of the Columbus Buggy Company, one of the pre-eminent businesses that

gave Columbus the reputation as the “buggy capital of the world” and propelled the Firestone family

into the automotive tire business. Architectural historians speculate that this building was designed

by local renowned architect Frank Packard, like the Governor’s Mansion next door (research is still

being conducted). The mansion is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing

building to the E. Broad Street Historic District.

Demolition of the mansion would be in defiance of the Near East Plan developed by the City’s

Department of Development in cooperation with a number of neighborhood organizations. The Plan

discourages further destruction of significant and contributing structures along the E. Broad St.

corridor between I-71 and Nelson Rd., and advocates for the rehabilitation and preservation of the

existing historic stock of private homes and professional offices. Ironically, The Columbus

Foundation helped fund the study that culminated in the Near East Plan.

While neighbors of the Firestone mansion recognize the significant level of contributions and

support that The Columbus Foundation has provided in the form of solicited grants to support civic

activities, OTENA and others believe the Foundation has ignored the neighborhood’s pleas and

suggestions for preservation and adaptive re-use of the home. Built by the leading industrialists and

civic leaders of their day, homes along the E. Broad St. corridor have created a grand entrance to

Ohio’s capital city for more than a century. We are at risk of losing the few remaining monuments of

that historic period of the city’s development.

For additional information on Olde Towne East and the Olde Towne East Neighborhood

Association, visit their Web site at http://www.oldetowne.org or call 1-866-234-0414 (toll-free).

Olde Towne East is the largest historic district in the city of Columbus. It was one of the first “neighborhoods” of Columbus

adjacent to downtown and just down the street from the Franklin Park Conservatory. Olde Towne is undergoing an amazing

renaissance while preserving its diversity, with many professionals and city leaders choosing to make their homes there.

More than 1,000 homes representing 50 architectural styles are located in the Olde Towne area and date from as early as

the 1830′s. The neighborhood is fast becoming a national model for downtown living for people who are interested in historic

preservation, green building and adaptive re-use smart growth strategies.

This Saturday is the public site hearing about the Firestone Mansion. We are trying to organize and tell as many people as possible to show up and protest. We’ll need signs made and we’ll need to tell as many people as possible, including news media.

Saturday, December 8, 2007 11:00 AM 1266 East Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43205 Demolition Application: 07100-0-00305 Applicant: Columbus Foundation Partners, Inc Applicants seeks demolition permit for 1266 East Broad Street

Someone is going to buy materials to make signs tonight. We can meet at my house Sat morning around 9am to make them if that works for everyone. Then, we can walk from there. My address is 1456 Bryden Road. Yes–I’ll have coffee.

Someone is putting together a news release tonight.

I would like to go to this but have plans to be out of town this weekend. If anyone wants to get more involved, PM me and I’ll send OTENA contact info to you.

http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=11009

An anonymous email wrote A demolition permit was awarded on Oct 29 for Firestone Mansion at 1266 E Broad. EPA will generally take 2 to 3 weeks unless it has already been ruled asbestos free, then its just a matter of when a crew and machinery can be scheduled. I know the power has been cut already. I hope you’ll share this on the Underground so that nobody is shocked when it vanishes. (I would look for it to happen on a Saturday morning while the press sleeps- just as they did at Children’s with the garden house)