A local preservation group is calling for Akron officials to reconsider their plan to demolish Firestone Plant 1, a historic facility once used by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.
The building is known for its front façade and historic clock tower, said Dana Noel, advocacy chair of the group Progress Through Preservation. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an iconic piece of Akron’s past, he said.
“Every time we lose one of these buildings, you know, we’re slowly erasing the identity of Akron and our connection to the past,” Noel said.
The structure was built in 1910 for the company's headquarters, according to the city’s report. The city has owned the property since 2013.
Initially, the city planned to demolish the rear wings of the building but keep the front, including the clock tower.
The Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission approved those demolition plans in June 2024, but one year later, city officials came back to the commission with a new plan to demolish the entire structure.
“Unfortunately, separating the front wing from the remaining structure while securing the building from both trespassers and weather is financially infeasible,” city officials wrote in their demolition request.
The building has been vacant for about 10 years and has been heavily vandalized, officials wrote. Scrappers have removed valuable wiring, piping and nearly all valuable metals, according to the report.
“Various developers have gone through the building to see if it could be repurposed. Their consensus was that reuse was not feasible,” city officials wrote.
Noel, however, calls the plan “demolition by neglect." At the July 1 historic preservation commission meeting to consider the demolition proposal, board members asked if the city could have done more to protect the building from vandals over the past few years.
The commission ultimately voted to take time to consider the proposal. Several board members said they want to tour the structure themselves before making a decision.
Noel hopes an outside architect or engineer can take a closer look to see if the front façade can be salvaged, he said.
“We’d like to revisit trying to keep the front façade with the clock tower,” Noel said. “The clock tower is probably the biggest feature of the building, and also kind of a landmark for anybody in Akron, especially for people living in Firestone Park.”
Noel would like the building to be preserved and potentially adapted into a new space, such as offices.
He acknowledges that will take time and resources, but he thinks the city is resorting too quickly to demolition.
“Work really hard to find a new use for it and keep it part of the community before you throw your hands up and just say, ‘Oh we can’t do anything,” Noel added.
The commission will likely take a vote at its next regular meeting on Aug. 5, he said.
