Bellbrook historical home demolished

A developer is moving forward with plans for new homes.

One of Bellbrook’s oldest and most historically significant buildings was demolished to make way for more space for housing development.

Highview Terrace, an upscale housing community, was also the location for the home of Henry Opdyke, one of Bellbrook’s founding fathers. The home’s status as the oldest brick building in Bellbrook came to an end Tuesday as crews began tearing down the house to accommodate the residential development.

The home was built in 1815, by Opdyke and Stephen Bell—a year before the city was founded, according to Bellbrook resident and historian Laurel Benner. Bellbrook was named by Opdyke and after the city’s co-founder Bell.

“It’s our 200-year anniversary and here we are tearing down the founder’s house that named it Bellbrook,” Benner said. “It’s kind of an oxymoron.”

This newspaper reported the developer’s initial plans for residential development in October 2005. When that article was published, Luke Clemens, son of George Clemens, owner of Clemens Development Co., said several of the historical homes on site would not be torn down, but would be sold as historical homes.

No one from Clemens returned phone calls from this news organization seeking comment for this story.

The Opdyke home would go unbothered until April 25, 2016, when developers submitted an amendment to their construction plans, which included moving the main road slightly eastward, placing the eventual road right where Opdyke’s house sat.

A GoFundMe account was opened by Benner in hopes of raising the $50,000 required to move the house to a vacant lot. The funds were not raised in time to save the house from demolition. Benner raised $410 from 11 donations which she says will now go toward preserving other historical sites.

Catherine Wilson, Executive Director of the Greene County Historical society echoed Benner’s sentiments for why the house should have been preserved.

“I think it’s important to keep that building because of the heritage,” Wilson said. “It shows the ways of that time and it was meant to last. It’s an investment in the community. It gives the Bellbrook community a sense of ‘this is how far we’ve come’ and it’s important to stay within that.”

Bellbrook city manager Mark Schlagheck said that he was aware of “interested parties” invested in saving the home, but since 2008 when he became city manager, there had never been any discussions at council meetings about saving it.

“No one’s ever brought forward a plan to save the house. We’ve had a few public hearings along the way for different things associated with this development,” Schlagheck said in reference to the amendments submitted to council in April.

“It was only when the demolition permits were issued that people came forward and wanted to consider saving that house,” he continued.

Since the permits were issued and residents like Benner came forward to try to save the home, Schlagheck worked with the developer and Benner to find a soultion. He also brought the issue to city council but said that it was out of their hands, financially, to try to help save it, stating the city didn’t “have the financial resources to move the house or restore it to the state that it would need to be.”

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