The demolition on about 22 buildings at the site on South Main Street will be the first visible signs of work to redevelop the property.
Though a detailed timeline of the project hasn’t been released, redevelopment of the 38-acre property will take place in multiple phases and could take 15 to 20 years to complete.
The site will be renamed onMain: Dayton’s Imagination District, according to a joint statement from Premier and UD, who each paid $5.25 million of the $15 million purchase price.
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“This is not your typical capital development,” said Mary Boosalis, CEO and president of Premier Health. “We have an ambitious vision that will take considerable public and private support to realize. As we said from the beginning, we want to do this right versus fast, and that will take time.”
The university and health system released preliminary designs for the fairgrounds that call for a mix of housing, retail, green space and parking, among other uses.
“The vision remains the same: to create a vibrant, mixed-use development that builds on Dayton’s history of innovation and entrepreneurship and can propel our next wave of jobs and opportunity,” said UD president Eric Spina.
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