Not sure if this might have been covered; I just read about it on Hemmings website. Here is the link:
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012 ... /#comments
The headquarters and factory, built in 1929, might end up demolished if things don't work out.

It's about time the building is a eyesore from I 75 and covered with gafritti not a pleaseant sight for people in Cincinnati we have much better uses for sught like that . Sorry Crosley you got to go and the majority of people who live here think the same.

Would be nice if they could do some thing with it but if they haven't by now they never will. What I don't understand is how the owners can afford the property taxes! Maybe they could demo it and someone would want the property with out the building! Either way
that building is a part of american history I hope some one has photos and documentation
on how millions of lives were changed and made better because of it!!! Great story Bgadow and thanks for posting it for us!!!

Lynn

Make it into an apartment building. 300k sq. ft.... let's assume half that and then make 1000 and 500sq.ft. units. The building would be paid up in a month.

Apartments? I dunno. Maybe it is zoned industrial. And there are areas in Cinn. that no one really wants to live...... Perhaps if they tear it down, some radio collector in Cinn. will be enterprising enough to sell bricks or similiar bits as souvenirs to all the collectors!

Why not turn it into a factory again? maybe could entice a tube or parts manufacturer to move in there or maybe could convince the current Crosley Corp. to move in.

Hate to see it go, although it's been deteriorating a bunch over the years. There was a time when many people lived around there. I-75 construction took a bunch of homes/streets in Cincinnati. My mom was born (1918) and raised across the Mill Creek valley south and west of there. She always said you could see the light from the big fire near the Crosley plant during the 1937 flood. Gasoline from a refinery was burning on the surface of floodwater.

In cities all over the country, buildings such as that are cleaned up, fixed up and remodeled into other uses. Condominiums are one strong pull for this. They tend to sell out fast.
Better than tearing down and then putting up all new something else there.
Other thing is, get rid of the graffiti now, clean up the property and it will suddenly look better. The citiy can force whomever owns it to do this work.
The place is big enough that it could be a commbination of things, including a few shops, a couple of offices and dwelling units.
Mark D.

Shopping Center ?



That's what they did to an old tire factory over here:

http://www.citadeloutlets.com/info/ourHistory

Its still an industrial area, but its located near a freeway, and not too far from downtown LA, though most people try to avoid the high(er) traffic areas.

Sort of a shame to see stuff like this because its a stark reminder that not so long ago in modern history we had literally 10's of thousands of these factories all over the country churning out everything from buttons to vacuum cleaners. These were buildings meant to do one thing: Make stuff. And now the ideas of what to do with them include making them into lofts and ironically- retail outlets to sell things that are more than likely made overseas.

As far as the building, well it looks like its built like a tank. Obviously it would be extremely costly to make a new one of these. Surely someone will see the value in it.

If you lived in Ohio, you would understand that things like that are usually torn down after many years of being an Isore. There is very little chance of it being converted into a living space.. The state would rather tear it down and take control over the property in lieu of the taxes owed on it.. It will likely be turned into an empty lot or a parking lot. There is a slight possibility of another building going up, but not likely. I know here in Lima, when a similar building comes down nothing usually goes in its place. Ive only seen 1 thing be built in place of a torn down building, and it literally took about 10 years before there were any plans to do so. The state doesnt like large industrial buildings to be re-zoned into living zones.. Mostly because it is way too costly and lots of safety issues could arise.

If this were in one of the major cities on the east coast, it would have become yuppie condos ten years ago.

It's sad to see the decaying remnants of what this country once was.

It's funny I was thinking this exact same thing when I saw this. Let America be Made in America as it once was and always should have been.

Only problem there is the stuff will be more expensive since the employees would have to be paid higher wages. Wouldn't be able to compete with the stuff China makes.

There are some who don't mind paying more for items made in the U.S.. In fact, I go out of my way searching for items made here in the states. It's not easy, and I'm not always successful, but I do try.

Same here.

That said there is a lot of people who want or can only afford it cheap.

Just look at what happened to Curtis Mathes. They were made in America, but just simply could not compete with the cheap imports.

One way to fix that is to impose a duty on the imports to make them as expensive as or more expensive than the US made products.

I believe that would be like compelling a wage earner; hamburger flipper, underpaid secretary, etc. to buy from somebody who makes more money and may not have any compunction about buying overseas products themselves.

I knew some NCR employees, down the street from the "Ham and Hi Fi" store where I worked, had no qualms about buying cheap foreign made audio gear in the '60's.

Then along came foreign made Electronic Cash Registers.

Charlie

I'm one of those guys who will go out and actively look for stuff made in the US when I can. For example I have some All-clad pans. They're an American company that makes professional quality cookware in PA. Its pricey but they are the last pans I will ever have to buy because they are that good. I wear a pair of running shoes made by new balance. They too are made in the USA. I've had them for almost 6 years. Best running shoes I've owned.

That said... I will also freely admit that there are times I buy other stuff and I do look at price, price, price.

Almost anyone you talk to will tell you they like to buy American; they will gripe about Chinese junk, jobs going to Mexico, etc, etc, but they simply will not pay the extra cost for something made here. There have been some jobs coming back to the US, only because the labor is getting just a little cheaper due to folks being out of work. Manufacturer's aren't evil, at least not in my eyes, they just need to get the price down low enough to get WalMart to buy a million of their widgets instead of those made by FlungDung. If it means shipping the stamping equipment to Outer Mongolia, so be it. Better than going completely out of business, I guess.

I suspect that the current Crosley Corp (which is just a sales company) fits tidily in an awfully small office complex somewhere.

I agree.

One way to get places like Wal-Mart to buy more US made products is to make the imported products cost as much as US made products.