Published: Sunday, October 15, 2006
The fate of historic building in limbo
The building needs some work done on it, one Warren official says.
By TIM YOVICH
WARREN — Chris Taneyhill would like to see the historic Packard House Apartments put back to good repair.
"I love old buildings," said Taneyhill, the city's chief building official — who was forced to condemn the North Park Avenue building and order its tenants to leave.
Owner Tom Larney of Warren, who owns the building through his Sorriso Inc., isn't sure what he'll do with it.
Larney said the building will eventually be reopened, but perhaps not as an apartment building. He noted that he's looking at some other possible plans.
The stone-exterior building was constructed in the early 1900s by brothers William D. and James W. Packard.
They founded Packard Electric Co. here in 1890 and Packard Motor Car Co. in 1920. Packard Electric made incandescent bulbs and other electrical products. In 1911, Warren became the first American city to light its streets with incandescent bulbs, according to the National Packard Museum here.
The company was the forerunner of the Delphi Packard Electric Systems that provides electrical components to the automobile industry.
The brothers built the luxury apartment building at 318 N. Park to provide luxury housing for their two sisters.
In need of repairs
The building has fallen on hard times.
"There were a lot of unsanitary conditions," said Taneyhill, who ordered residents to leave July 10.
The building official called attention to feces from a pit bull on the inside, exit signs that didn't work and no emergency lighting. There were only bare wires where smoke alarms and lighting fixtures were supposed to be.
Larney said the building has been in bad repair since he bought it in 1999.
Terry Martin, local historian and co-author of "Packard: A History of the Motor Car and the Company," said the apartments were constructed in either 1901 or 1902. W.D. Packard moved in with his son, Warren Packard, and the brothers' two sisters.
Martin said the building contained the first apartments in Warren and were plush. In W.D.'s diary, he recounts the housekeeper arriving daily as he went off to work.
The building was maintained until about 2000.
"I kind of get sick," Martin said, when he sees it now. "It's just gone downhill."
Taneyhill said it will take some doing to bring the building up to code. In his inspection report, Taneyhill deemed the building "dangerous."
The building can't be occupied until a certificate of occupancy is issued.
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from vindyJOBS.com
