A plan to save the facade of Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.’s first manufacturing plant and its 115-year-old, eight-story clock tower is at risk.
The City of Akron originally planned to demolish most of Plant 1 but keep the front of the building. However, since the Akron Urban Design and Historic Preservation Commission agreed last June to a partial demolition, the city’s planning department determined it is too expensive to save the rest of the building.
The low bid to separate and secure the front of the building was upwards of $12 million, according to a planning department analysis, while the low bid to demolish the entire structure was just over $7 million. Additionally, saving the facade after the rest of the building was demolished would require a 650-foot wall to be built from the basement to the second floor to enclose the property…