Crain building conundrum and conversation continue

Time has done the former Crain Sanitarium building and the house next door no favors.

Both buildings have sat deteriorating for years, and despite growing interest to salvage the structures, time continues to pass. The buildings again were a discussion topic during the March 10 Historic Preservation Commission meeting.

Michele Walker, the commission president, said the issue stretches on and on with an inability to move forward. She compared the buildings to hot potatoes, with nobody wanting to touch them.

In November, the commission was visited by Brittany Miller, then the eastern regional director for Indiana Landmarks. Miller wanted to determine some cost estimates that she could take to Indiana Landmarks for funding consideration; however, she then left the organization. 

Mark Dollase, Landmarks’ vice president for preservation services, attended the March 10 commission meeting. He’s working to hire Miller’s replacement and, in fact, had a candidate with him for his visit to Richmond, where the regional office is located in the Reid Center. Dollase said Crain and its neighbor will top the new regional director’s project list.

Site control has created delays. Private citizens continue to own the buildings — Kristopher Nelson and Heaven and Benjamin Johnson for the Crain building at 2116 E. Main St. and Mark Olson of Oelwein, Iowa, for 2110 E. Main St. Nobody can access the buildings to even evaluate conditions without owner permission.

Who owns the buildings now, however, is less the problem than who’s willing to own and take responsibility for them. Both buildings qualify for the Wayne County Board of Commissioners deed sale, so the commissioners can acquire ownership at any point. They won’t do that, however, unless there’s a plan enabling them to pass on ownership immediately.

Roxie Deer, a commission member and executive director of Richmond Neighborhood Restoration, said RNR wants to be part of continuing conversations about Crain and its neighbor. She said saving the buildings will require a community effort.

Chamaea Edwards, another commission member, said the Crain building, especially, is important to many Richmond residents, some of whom were born there.