Chillicothe Gazette Staff – May 30th, 2014

In the more than 11 years since the Carlisle Building was severely damaged in a deliberately set fire, Chillicothe residents have endured multiple visions for the structure’s renovation.

This week, the dreams of renovation drew closer to reality as building officially changed hands.

The Chesler Group officially closed on a purchase of the building and renovations will soon begin with a target date of reopening by next year. Adena Health System will be the main tenant, using the space to house offices and living space for residents.

The Chillicothe-Ross Chamber of Commerce announced the sale Friday, in its weekly newsletter.

“It is with great anticipation that we look forward to the renovation of the Carlisle Building and the revitalization of our entire downtown,” said Tom White, chairman of the city’s Downtown Development Commission.

Chesler has maintained that work would begin on the famed structure as soon as the closing was finished.

The renovation of the building has long been held as the main catalyst to downtown revitalization and was named as such in a outside downtown study conducted by Hyett Palma in 2007.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew Kent, Chillicothe Gazette – April 29, 2014:

Preparations for the upcoming renovation of the historic Carlisle Building in downtown Chillicothe appear to be taking shape.

The developer of the iconic structure, Michael Chesler, said Tuesday that he plans to begin work in May that will first involve putting up scaffolding once technical and financial details are finalized.

Chesler, who leads the Cleveland-based Chesler Group, signed a 15-year lease in February with Adena Health System, which plans to fully occupy the building late next year.

The $7 million renovation project will have 32 apartments for medical residents and other office space for Adena employees once it is completed. The downtown landmark has stood unoccupied since a 2003 fire damaged the building.

Several efforts have been launched to renovate the structure in the years since the fire, but none gained any traction until the partnership between Adena and Chesler was formed. Chesler said he plans to scaffold the building beginning on the Paint Street side as one of the first steps in the renovation process.

“There are some structural defects, flaws and some structural problems on the Howson Building that are pretty evident for even a layperson to see, and we need to repair those structural defects probably first,” Chesler said. “So we’re going to have a lot of the debris coming off the front of the building and there’s no room yet in the rear, and so we may demolish some of those outstructures.

“And so that’s the plan.”

He said that will mean “stabilizing parts of the building that are distressed and doing the demolition of the exterior outbuildings from the rear, and that phase will probably take four to six months of stabilization.”

Once that is completed, Chesler said, crews will go inside and begin the interior restoration process. He confirmed that the completion date of October 2015 is still on track and that the overall project is ready to move forward.

“We’re all ready to go, and we just have to finalize, get all the parties happy to go to work,” Chesler said.

Preliminary construction estimates were being performed on the structure on Tuesday, said Todd Wallace, senior project manager with Cleveland-based American Preservation Builders.

Kelly Kight, the city’s chief building official, also was among those gathered outside the building.

Kight said the city has issued a permit for the project to allow for temporary electric service in the back of the structure.

Chesler said residents of Chillicothe can thank the president and CEO of Adena Health System, Mark Shuter, for his efforts concerning the Carlisle Building.

“It’s a gift to the community, and in addition to getting health care from that organization … they really need to recognize that it was all about Mark Shuter and the board at Adena that made it happen,” he said.

Mayor Jack Everson said the renovation work will provide an economic boost to Chillicothe and Ross County once things get started, as Chesler has indicated he intends to use local contractors as much as possible.

Everson added that the upcoming project is a step in the right direction for Chillicothe.

“I think it’s the catalyst to the rebirth of downtown,” he said.

 

Steven Litt, The Plainer Dealer – April 22, 2014

A burgeoning cultural node in Ohio City on Cleveland’s near West Side could soon get a serious boost if the nonprofit art gallery Spaces can raise enough cash to move into the neighborhood.
After months of quiet negotiations, Spaces is close to signing a lease with developer Michael Chesler, owner of the 14,000-square-foot brick industrial building at the southeast corner of West 29th Street and Detroit Avenue.

Moving into the area, dubbed Hingetown by local developers Graham Veysey and Marika Shioiri-Clark, would bring Spaces cheek by jowl with the new Transformer Station gallery, and with Veysey and Shioiri Clark’s Ohio City Firehouse and Striebinger Building.

Also located nearby are ICA Art Conservation; the Van Roy Building, owned by Chesler; and the former Bop Stop jazz club, recently donated to University Circle’s Music Settlement.

Chesler and John Farina, president of the Spaces board, see the opportunity for a strong fit with a neighborhood that is quickly becoming a West Side cultural mecca.

“This is an opportunity to graduate to the next phase of what Spaces does in terms of serving artists and the community overall,” Farina said. “It’s the next part of our evolution.”

Chesler, who said he is offering Spaces a below-market lease, said he’s equally pleased to have the chance to add to the dynamism of the area.

“We’re going to do something cool that will benefit the neighborhood forever,” Chesler said Monday during a tour of his building. “This [the potential Spaces move] would change the whole deal for this part of Ohio City forever.”

Spaces, established in 1978, is devoted to showing experimental works by emerging and mid-career artists.

In November 2013, the organization signed a deal to sell its three-story, 19th-century vintage loft building at 2220 Superior Viaduct for $418,000.

The organization decided to sell the building, which it had owned since 1990, because the location came to feel isolated and unrelated to surrounding developments, including the StoneBridge Apartments, built in 2007.

Spaces recently signed a “hold agreement” with Chesler, which gives the gallery six months to sign a lease for the Ohio City building.

Farina said that Spaces has launched a $3 million capital campaign, of which it needs to raise roughly half, or $1.5 million, in order to sign the lease. So far, the organization has gathered $500,000 in cash and pledges, so it is pushing to raise the remaining $1 million by October.

Farina said his confidence about getting the job done is “high, very high. We’re getting an excellent response. Nobody is coming back to us and saying, ‘You guys are out of your minds.’ ”

Architect John Williams of Cleveland’s Process Studio, a former president of the Spaces board, is designing a minimal renovation of the Ohio City building intended to preserve its rugged industrial look.

The interior would feature about 5,000 square feet of gallery space, about what Spaces has now in its Superior Viaduct building.

Built in the 1950s, the Ohio City building features a structure of steel columns and trusses with 20-foot ceilings and facades of brick and concrete block. Its most notable feature is a large window spanning most of its long west façade with windowpanes or opaque panels in varying hues that create a checkerboard look.

Farina and Chesler said they both feel the windows are essential to the building’s identity, and that they intend to preserve their patchy appearance.

Chesler, who bought the building in 2011 for $270,000, said it was previously used as a fabricating facility for large steel water purification tanks.

Among its special features are a series of ceiling cranes that will be preserved and may be used by artists who need to move around heavy objects.

Christina Vassallo, who was appointed as the new executive director of Spaces in December, said she’s thrilled to join the organization at what is shaping up to be a pivotal moment in its history.

She moved to Cleveland recently after having spent three years as executive director and curator of Flux Factory NYC, which organizes exhibitions, artist residencies and collaborative projects.

About the potential move for Spaces, Vassallo said: “We are still going to be Spaces, but with a very long future ahead of us.”