Historic Structure Report: The Wright Company Factory, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
Raths, Raths & Johnson, Inc.| Engineering, Architecture, + Forensics. 2023. Historic Structure Report: The Wright Company Factory, Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. Historic Structure Report. National Park Service. Dayton, Ohio
This Historic Structure Report (HSR) concerns the Wright Company Factory, located in Dayton Aviation National Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. This HSR was prepared in anticipation of NPS’s acquisition of Buildings 1, 2, and 17 and the immediately adjacent land from the City of Dayton. Building 1 was constructed by the Wright Company in 1910 as the site of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s first purpose-built airplane manufacturing facility. In 1911, Building 2 was constructed, also by the Wright Company. Over the subsequent decades, the buildings changed ownership several times and underwent multiple phases of expansion, eventually developing into a 54-acre complex for automotive and other heavy industrial fabrication. In 2019, Buildings 1 through 5 and 17 were listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In 2020, NPS engaged a consultant team to prepare a historic structure report (HSR) in two parts for Buildings 1 and 2 of the Wright Company factory. The purpose of the HSR is to compile the findings of historical research regarding the development and changes over time of the site, identify the primary interpretive themes, establish historic preservation objectives, document the existing conditions of the physical structures, and prepare alternatives for the reuse of the site by NPS. This HSR will act as a foundation for future decision-making regarding rehabilitation and interpretation of the site. The factory was severely damaged by fire on March 27, 2023 as the HSR was in progress. The scope of the project was modified in response to the fire. Prior to the fire, the preferred treatments considered by NPS centered around rehabilitating Buildings 1 and 2 for mixed use as interpretive space and as administrative and maintenance support space for park operations, along with recommendations for site and landscape features, accessible entry and pathways to and through the interior, envelope repairs, structural stabilization, and introduction of new building systems.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Raths, Raths & Johnson, Inc.| Engineering, Architecture, + Forensics
- Date of Issue
- 2023-09-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- DAAV , MWR
- Keywords
- airplane, aviation, daylight factory, Dayton, factory, fire damage, General Motors, manufacturing, Orville Wright, Wilbur Wright, Wright Brothers, Wright Company
- Subjects
- CRIS-CL: 550169: Wright Brothers National Memorial Landscape