“As we start the first building on this site, we wanted something that could be that catalytic or leverageable agent for future development on this site that is creating new jobs,” Heitkamp said.
Dayton leaders have discussed retrofitting the former fairgrounds site at the corner of South Main and Stewart streets, across from the main campus of Premier Health and close to the University of Dayton, for decades.
Premier Health and the University of Dayton purchased the site and created onMain, the corporation developing the site, in 2017.
Other key partners expected to support the site include Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the University of Dayton Research Institute, the city of Dayton, Montgomery County, JobsOhio, and the Dayton Development Coalition.
Dayton City Commission approved the first phase of development in June, with the Think Dayton building and the groundwork for further development – streets, water pipes, sewers and more – as part of the first phase.
Heitkamp said the Think Dayton building will be a space to let Air Force professionals, private industry and academics mix and develop new technology. The space will also be used to figure out what skills will be needed in the future and teach students along the way.
“I think it provides opportunity, really, for the community at all levels,” Heitkamp said.
The total investment for the project is around $70 million, including $35 million from the state of Ohio. Around $900,000 from the federal government went to renovate the historic Roundhouse at the site.
U.S. Rep. Mike Turner said the jobs that can be created at the site will help the economy.
“These are innovative jobs that look to the future of national security,” Turner said.
U.S. Senator Jon Husted, who helped bring the project to fruition at the state level as lieutenant governor, said while it’s taken a long time to break ground, it may take more time to bring the project fully to fruition.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“We need not squander this opportunity to think small,” Husted said. “We must take advantage of this opportunity to think big about what this can be.”
JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef said this is a different time for Dayton than the 1990s and early 2000s, when many companies closed buildings, cut jobs or moved out of the city.
“This is a community that doesn’t take no, or you can’t do it, or it’s over, or it won’t work,” Nauseef said. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”
The building is expected to include research space with wet-lab capability, research space, classrooms, and open offices. onMain wants a mix of tenants such as smaller tech firms, outside research and development teams and traditional office users for the new building..
Reporter Cornelius Frolik contributed to this story.
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