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Arcade owner wants $5 million commitment from Dayton

Arcade owner Gunther Berg says financing for renovation of the historic building has been secured, but a local commitment is needed to move the project forward. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

Ty Greenlees/Staff Photographer Arcade owner Gunther Berg says financing for renovation of the historic building has been secured, but a local commitment is needed to move the project forward. Staff photo by Ty Greenlees

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 6:25 AM Thursday, March 18, 2010

DAYTON — The owner of Dayton’s historic downtown arcade wants a financial commitment from the community to aid in the $38 million restoration project.

“What we are trying to do here is for the people of Dayton,” said Gunther Berg, who bought the arcade in March 2009. “One of our investors wants a $5 million commitment from Dayton, in writing.”

Berg’s time frame calls for the five-building complex to be open by December 2012. This assumes a financial commitment by all parties by July 2010, he said.

Berg said the Dayton commitment could come in different forms, and he’s not sure exactly how that would happen or what it would look like.

He expects to reveal details of his financial plan for the restoration project Monday, March 22, after meeting with an investor in Chicago this weekend.

“If we want to ask for $5 million, I know we have to bring details to the table,” he said. “If we have the $5 million, we’re ready to go. We have the rest (of the financing) for the whole project.”

That financing will come from American and German investors, he said. Berg also plans to apply for Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

“I had one man give me a check for $1,” Berg said. “If we want to make something happen, it can’t be just me. It’s not just Dayton Arcade LLC. It is ‘we the people.’ ”

The Friends of the Dayton Arcade already stepped up.

The group has committed to raising an as yet undetermined amount of money by selling glass panes for restoration of the glass rotunda and walkway ceiling, between the rotunda and Third Street, said Leon Bey, the group’s co-founder.

Berg also spoke Wednesday to the Dayton Metro Library board of trustees, proposing that they place the downtown library in the arcade as part of a multi-use plan for the building. Berg called it a “lifetime chance” and told trustees not to think about the cost now, but instead to think about the possibilities.

Board member William Gillespie noted that two prior renovations of the arcade were very expensive. And Board chair Barbara Hayde said after the meeting that it is impossible to not think about the money.

“You never want to say no to an exciting proposal such as this, but given the (financial) situation we are in, it’s going to be difficult to reconcile the needs of the library with the desire of the community to save the arcade,” Hayde said.

David McDonald, co-chair of Dayton Mayor Gary Leitzell’s Leadership Advisory Council, said he’d love to see the arcade project move forward.

“My faith in the Dayton community is that, if he gets his $30 million, the Dayton community will come through,” McDonald said.

Berg said he has lived out of a suitcase for five weeks trying to move the project forward. During tough economic times when other projects are being dumped, his commitment remains strong.

“I guarantee there is so much going on behind the scenes,” he said. “I think we have come very, very far in a year.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2362 or josmith@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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