In February 2025, a new boutique hotel became part of the renaissance of Downtown Dayton.
The 118-room Hotel Ardent is located in the historic Barclay Building at Main and First Streets, a site that has a fascinating story involving some big names from Dayton’s past, and a legacy over the decades that largely echoes the trajectory of downtown as a whole.
Today it’s called the Barclay Building, but when the 10-story structure was built in 1925-26, it was known as the Harries Building. And the site’s importance in Dayton history begins long before the current building was constructed…