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City Manager,
R. Mark Rohr outlined a plan in 2001 to redevelop the vacant
Fort Piqua (Orr-Statler) Hotel.
In this
presentation, several scenarios were presented to the
City Commission. It was recommended that the City be the
prime mover in a public-private partnership to save the most identifiable
structure in Piqua.
During the presentation, it
was pointed out that the timing for a project such as this might
be right due to the synergy created and momentum generated by
other projects in Piqua such as entranceway improvements, new
municipal government complex, Linear Park, downtown
rehabilitation and streetscaping, new football stadium
(Alexander Stadium/Purk Field), new Home Depot, and the
Covington Avenue reconstruction.
Re-developing
or re-using the hotel was an important concern in the Future
Piqua II process, being named as desirable by 76.6% of
the citizens surveyed. Since 1987, the hotel has remained
relatively unused and a number of previous plans by private
developers have not come to fruition.
A hotel
restoration committee has been established by the City
Commission, and along with the City Manager and architect Jeff
Wray have been working to further develop the plans and work
with various private and public entities. This type of
project is a major undertaking and the city will continue to
work with the proper entities toward the completion of the
project.
The
implementation of this project and the redevelopment of the
hotel will successfully accomplish seven major goals of the
Future Piqua II broad-based community involvement, will add to the new positive attitude and spirit in the community, and
resolve one of the most difficult issues in the City of Piqua. |
