House for fire training a loss for Franklinton
To a passerby, the burnt-out Queen Anne-style house in Franklinton looks like a lost cause. But the house remains one of a kind in a way: the last single-family house on West Broad Street in that neighborhood.
And that’s why some still want it saved, including the Columbus Landmarks Foundation and some Franklinton leaders and residents. The house also serves as a reminder to property owners to check with preservationists on whether their house could possibly be sold to someone interested in restoring it.
Trent Smith, executive director of the Franklinton Board of Trade, said he saw in October that Columbus firefighters were using the house at the southwest corner of West Broad Street and West Park Avenue for training.
“I started making some phone calls in concert with Landmarks and the Franklinton Area Commission to see if there was anything to do to stop this from going on,” Smith said.
“It’s just a beautiful structure,” he said. “We were just alarmed on a bigger scale that something like that could happen without the commission or board of trade being made aware of it.”
The West Broad Missionary Chapel owns the house and donated it to the Columbus Division of Fire to use for training, fire Battalion Chief Steve Martin said.
“If someone who owns it is looking to demolish or remove it, they can donate to us,” Martin said. “Sometimes in the process, the houses we burn saves the homeowner a ton of money in demolition (costs).”
Martin said the fire division found nothing to indicate the house was of a historic nature, which would have prevented it from being used for training.
Phone and email messages to Pastor Gary Brugger of the church were not returned.
Becky West, executive director of the Columbus Landmarks Foundation, said the church has made the decision to move forward with demolition.
“We completely understand the fire department needs active sites to train. It's an important function,” West said. “This is one of our city's assets, a nice historic resource. If there could have been an alternative site for that to take place, that would be our preference.”
It would have been nice to have found a buyer to rehab the house, she said.
According to the Franklin County auditor, the 2,729-square-foot house was built in 1920 and has four bedrooms. West said the house has a lot of flair and character.
“It would be great if we could have both things: training and historic preservation,” she said.
Jim Sweeney, a Franklinton resident on the Landmarks board, said the community does care about older buildings that make up the fabric of the neighborhood.
“We're making everyone aware there are a lot of people who really care about the buildings we have,” said Sweeney, former executive director of the Franklinton Development Association. mferench@dispatch.com @Markferenchik