UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 25-May-2010 I, John Arend , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Architecture in Architecture (Master of) It is entitled: Preserving Progress: An Adaptive Reuse of the Moraine Assembly Plant Student Signature: John Arend This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: Nnamdi Elleh, PhD Nnamdi Elleh, PhD Rebecca Williamson, PhD Rebecca Williamson, PhD 5/26/2010 714 Preserving Progress: An Adaptive Resue of the Moraine Asembly Plant A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning by John Arend B.S. Architecture University of Cincinnati May 2010 Committee: First Chair: Nnamdi Elleh, Ph.D. Second Chair: Rebecca Williamson, Ph.D. Abstract This thesis explores how adaptive reuse can be applied to the develop- ment of an abandoned industrial site in Moraine, Ohio. General Motors (GM) recently closed its Moraine Assembly plant south of Dayton, Ohio on Decem- ber 23, 2008. The plant’s plot covers 300-acres and, at one time, employed 5,000 workers. Its loss leaves the city, a suburb of Dayton, without one of its major job sources and a large abandoned industrial site. In 1917, a structure intended to house the manufacturing operations of DELCO (Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company) was built in Moraine, OH. Upon completion, the building was purchased by the Dayton Wright Airplane Company. In 1926, the building was converted into a manufacturing plant for General Motors’ Frigidaire division. The plant was expanded in 1950, and remained in use by Frigidaire until 1979 when General Motors sold the division. The plant was then renovated and retooled to become a truck and SUV manufacturing plant for General motors in 1981. The plant became one of the most productive truck and SUV plants for General Motors, but declining sales forced the company to shut down the plant in 2008. iii Can the history of change and evolution inherent on the Moraine As- sembly site inform us, today, how to approach its future? Elements existing on the site can be reused to create a city center, including business incubators, for the community. These reused elements act as a visual reminder to the community’s history, while also serving to support its present and future. iv Table of Content Abstract iii Table of Contents vi List of Illustrations vii Chapter 1 – Introduction 1 Chapter 2 – Moraine Assembly History 7 Chapter 3 – Adaptive Reuse and Preservation 18 Chapter 4 – Precedents 32 Chapter 5 – Thesis Project 44 5.1 Goals and Issues 44 5.2 The Site 46 5.3 Program 50 5.4 Site Treatment 54 5.5 Building 59 Chapter 6 – Conclusion 64 Works Cited 68 Works Consulted 71 vi List of Illustrations Chapter 2 Pg. 7 Image 2.1: Moraine Assembly Archives Pg. 8 Image 2.2: Dayton Journal, May 23, 1937 Pg. 9 Image 2.3: General Motors Corporation. Frigidaire Division, GM Frigidaire at War : A Record of Continuing Achievement by the Men and Women of Frigidaire Division, General Motors Corporation (Dayton, Ohio: Frigidaire Division, 1944), 20. Pg. 10 Image 2.4: Dayton Journal-Herald, December 20, 1958 Pg. 11 Image 2.5: General Motors Corporation. Frigidaire Division, Life at Frigidaire: Employee Information Through the Camera!s Eye (Dayton, Ohio: Frigidaire Division, 1944), 44. Image 2.6: Life at Frigidaire: Employee Information Through the Camera!s Eye, 25. Pg. 12 Image 2.7: Life at Frigidaire: Employee Information Through the Camera!s Eye, 22. Pg. 13 Image 2.8 Sara M. Beringer, History of Dayton's Industries (Dayton, Ohio: N.P., 1955), 60. Pg. 16 Image 2.9: Moraine Assembly Archives vii Chapter 4 Pg. 32 Image 4.1: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Image 4.2: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Pg. 33 Image 4.3: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Image 4.4: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Pg. 34 Image 4.5: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Image 4.6: http://www.thebrewerymke.com/index.htm Pg. 35 Image 4.7: Author Image 4.8: Tschumi Le Fresnoy : Architecture Inbetween (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999), 41. Pg. 36 Image 4.9: Tschumi Le Fresnoy : Architecture Inbetween,153. Image 4.10: Tschumi Le Fresnoy : Architecture Inbetween, 8. Pg. 37 Image 4.11: Tschumi Le Fresnoy : Architecture Inbetween,135. Pg. 38 Image 4.12: http://www.kaufmann.archbuero.com/ Image 4.13: http://www.kaufmann.archbuero.com/ viii Pg. 39 Image 4.14: http://www.kaufmann.archbuero.com/ Pg. 40 Image 4.15: Author Pg. 41 Image 4.16: Eric Owen Moss : Buildings and Projects (New York: Rizzoli, 1991), 125. Pg. 42 Image 4.17: Eric Owen Moss : Buildings and Projects, 133. Pg. 43 Image 4.18: Eric Owen Moss : Buildings and Projects, 159. Chapter 5 Pg. 44 Image 5.1: Author Pg. 46 Image 5.2: Author Pg. 47 Image 5.3: Author Pg. 48 Image 5.4: Author Image 5.5: Author Pg. 49 Image 5.6: Author Image 5.7: Author Image 5.8: Author ix Image 5.9: Author Pg. 50 Image 5.10: Author Pg. 51 Image 5.11: Author Pg. 52 Image 5.12: Author Pg. 53 Image 5.13: Author Pg. 59 Image 5.14: Author Pg. 60 Image 5.15: Author Image 5.16: Author Pg. 61 Image 5.17: Author Image 5.18: Author Pg. 62 Image 5.19: Author Image 5.20: Author Pg. 63 Image 5.21: Author x Chapter 1 - Introduction Growing up in Paulding, Ohio had a profound impact on the way I view a place. With the exception of a few patches of woods and small villages, the area is almost completely made up of a patchwork of fields within a square mile grid of roads. I took the endless rows of corn, soybeans, and wheat for granted as I grew up, considering it part of nature. Eventually, I realized that even in the least populated part of Ohio, nature had been converted into in- dustry. Paulding, and much of the area around it, was once a part of the Great Black Swamp. The region was the last part of Ohio to be settled but, after being drained, it was the most fertile farmland in the area. The road system introduced was more complex than just a method of transportation. It also provided a consistent grid of drainage to help keep the land dry and also helped divide it into exact parcels. The true nature of the place had been re- placed with the equivalent of an agricultural factory. The system of fields, roads, and ditches were no less of a man-made industry than the steel buildings and conveyors of manufacturing lines. The 1 roads and rows of crops were organized to expedite planting and harvesting a product. The fact that the product was a plant only masked the reality that the landscape was less about nature and more about industry. My first experience living in Dayton, OH was during my first co-op for the University of Cincinnati. The city had grown through the innovation of many industries including the National Cash Register Company (NCR), Gen- eral Motors, and Frigidaire. However, during my time there, the city was only a shadow of what it once was. Many of the industries had moved much of their business outside of the city and there were debates about what should be done with the structures remaining vacant throughout the city. Some felt the buildings should be preserved to remember the role they played in the city’s growth, while others felt they should be taken down so something new could take their place. Since then, most of the major industries in the Dayton area have com- pletely moved out. The University of Dayton who plans to use it as a research center purchased the NCR complex. The City of Dayton passed a bill that 2 would fund the redevelopment of their warehouse district, which includes buildings previously used by General Motors and Frigidaire, into a technology district. Frigidaire, once a division of General Motors, used not only buildings in the former warehouse district of Dayton, but also three in Moraine, a sub- urb just south of downtown Dayton. Frigidaire operated in Dayton out of these buildings for 50 years before the division was sold and the buildings retooled for use by General Motors’ truck group. During the 27 years after, General Motors demolished two of the buildings on the Moraine site and discontinued use of the buildings in the warehouse district. The lone remaining plant in Moraine continued operation until December 23, 2008 when GM closed it due to failing SUV sales. The plant sits vacant today as a reminder to the city of Moraine of the economic anchor it once was. This thesis explores how adaptive reuse can be used to redevelop the abandoned Moraine plant while retaining the spirit of progress inherent in the site’s history. Chapter two will chronicle the history of the site from the first plant built in Moraine by Dayton Wright Airplane Company in 1917 to the site’s abandonment in 2008. This chapter will not only focus on the history of 3 new construction and expansions, but also on the affects those companies had on the community around them. Chapter three will discuss the role of preservation in architecture and how it can be applied to this project. It will cover popular topics of preserva- tion; including reuse, restoration, reconstruction, and conservation.