Bye, Smitty's (Cincinnati, Hamilton: apartment, rent, loft)

[Cincy Rider]

Over-the-Rhine fire destroys Smitty's

By Sharon Coolidge • April 28, 2010
OVER-THE-RHINE – The ringing phone awakened Marie and Larry Ashford at 4 a.m. Wednesday.

"There's a fire at the store," an employee told Marie Ashford, who replied that her husband, the owner of Smitty's in Over-the-Rhine, would be right there.

Then she turned to her husband and broke the news.

"At that moment, my mind went blank," said Larry Ashford, 69, who started working in the Vine Street men's clothing store when he was 14. "It's a shock. That's 84 years gone."
Ashford raced from his West Price Hill home to downtown, where the scene he found was like nothing he could have imagined.
Seventy firefighters surrounded the store that spans four buildings. Water rained down from overhead, sprayed by firefighters from ladders above. Flames shot up 50 feet in the air, creating a spectacular blaze that left plumes of smoke hovering over the 1400 block of Vine Street in Cincinnati's historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
"There's nothing left," Ashford said at about 8 a.m. as he stood, surrounded by his two daughters, grandchildren and Over-the-Rhine neighbors, outside the charred remains of the building. The fire investigation is ongoing. All firefighters will say is that the blaze started on the first floor and first was spotted at 3:30 a.m. by a passing police officer. Firefighters awakened a couple who live in an apartment above Smitty's, helping them to safety.
• Photos: Fire in Over-the-Rhine
Smitty's, which has been in the same Vine Street location for 84 years, is an Over-the-Rhine institution. The red-and-white-striped awning, flashing lights and giant signs have marked the same spot in a neighborhood that once prospered before experiencing rough times prior to its current process of revitalization.

"It's a landmark and an important retail location and service for the neighborhood," said Brian L. Tiffany, president of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce. "It was there when Over-the-Rhine was thriving and when it wasn't, but he always stayed."

The store was founded by brothers Sam, Phillip and Roy Smith. Ashford said they hired him as a teen to do "everything they told me to do."

Ashford said he grew up in the store, located in the middle of the working-class neighborhood of Germans and Italians. It was a time when every business on the block was open and on Halloween the shop owners gave out candy to kids.

When Phillip Smith died in 2001, he left the business to Ashford, who has been there every day since.

"When people see Smitty's, it's not about the building or even the merchandise," said his daughter, Angela Miller, 45. "It's about Dad."

Over the last two decades, Ashford has watched nearby businesses board up as crime escalated.

Still, he stayed.

"He feels Over-the-Rhine gets a bad rap," Miller said.

Ashford said he keeps his 365-day work schedule to cash checks for day laborers, not to sell clothes.

"Even Christmas he stays open," said daughter Andrea Ashford, 39.

Added Miller: "Everything in our family was after 5:30 p.m., the earliest he would close."

People in the neighborhood appreciate Ashford's loyalty. Andrea Ashford said during the civil unrest of 2001, when many buildings suffered damage, Smitty's was spared.

"People were helping him board it up. People were saying, 'Not Smitty's. Don't touch Smitty's,' " she said.

The store sells "urban wear" for men from ages 2 to 90, with sizes up to 70. People can buy everything from their baby's first booties to size-15 dress shoes. Famous boxers and hip-hop stars stop by when they're in town.

Anyone who has ever been inside knows there are racks and racks of merchandise, every square inch used to sell clothing.

Dan MacDonald, who manages properties in Over-the-Rhine, criss-crossed the fire scene looking for Ashford. He was worried about the shop owner whom he often visited to share pleasantries and little bits of neighborhood gossip.

"Smitty's is an institution," said MacDonald, 42. "I feel really bad for Larry."

Firefighters told Ashford the main store is in the best condition, but it's too soon to know exactly what was lost.

From the outside, it looks like nearly everything.

Cincinnati District 1 Fire Chief Stephen Kluesener estimated damage at several hundred thousand dollars.

In recent years, Ashford has watched downtown developer 3CDC buy up several properties on the block, all now being renovated. It's a mission he supports. He even approached the group about selling his buildings, but no price was ever agreed upon.

"I want Over-the-Rhine to succeed," Ashford said.

Ashford stayed at the store all day Wednesday, though he wasn't allowed inside because the building was not stable. A stream of people stopped by to comfort him, but it was they who were comforted by Ashford, who promised to re-open as soon as possible.

Employees Cameron Hill and Andrew Graham gazed at what was left of the buildings. On Thursday, a work crew - on orders from the city - will demolish what's left.

"It's like saying goodbye to something that's been here longer than we have been," said Hill, 27.

As Ashford stood on the sidewalk, he already was thinking about what will come next.

"An eternal optimist," Andrea Ashford called her father.

Said Larry Ashford: "I have to have a place to go; I can't be around my wife all day."

It was a brief moment of levity.

His daughters smiled and added, "Mom would think that too."

Reporters Jennifer Baker and Dan Horn contributed to this story.

[Wilson513]

Yea, well, if that's the place with the hundred light bulbs out on the sidewalk up there, good riddance. Probably the most jarring eyesore anywhere. Probably burned down by civic minded neighbors for the good of the community.

[Mircea]

Good riddance. That thing was an eye-sore and a blight.

Um, they were also causing problems by refusing to sell or re-locate, because, well, the property value went up.

[Cincy Rider]

^^ Yeesh. You two have no heart or sense of local history. Did you read the story?

[Cincy Rider]

Originally Posted by Mircea

Good riddance. That thing was an eye-sore and a blight.

Um, they were also causing problems by refusing to sell or re-locate, because, well, the property value went up.

That is a very disturbing statement. He was there first, for like 100 years, well since a 70 year old man was 14. He was there before all of the failed policy that led to the downfall of OTR. Smitty's was an icon and a legend of OTR, and you're worried about property values?

[PhillytoCincy]

I heard about this earlier today. It is a shame, but with the rapid restoration and construction in OTR, I bet this place will be back up and going soon. Weren't there buildings directly behind it that were being rehabbed? Thats what I heard, and they were fine, no damage.

[Cincy Rider]

^ I hope so.

You'd think burned out buildings add so much to the neighborhood.

[goyguy]

Something smells here, and it ain't smoke. This is at least the second time this year that a major blaze has struck OTR in the middle of the night, first time being the old Moerlein brewery on Elm St. An increase in arson is a predictable occurrence in a changing neighborhood: it's perpetrated by owners looking to cut their losses if the community's in decline, or by speculators looking to remove obstacles to their developments if the area's on the upswing. It's one of the most difficult crimes to prove, and obviously more so if somebody's on the take. Rehabbers on Race St probably only shed tears if they were of joy, to see a "ghetto, eyesore" business go up in smoke while leaving their future loft condos unscathed. And since some (note that I wrote "some") real-estate types are slimeballs of the first degree, these things have a way of happening.
I've seen this scenario unfold where I live, during the '90s when my city did away with rent control. Landlords got frustrated when they found out that the restrictions were lifted only when current tenants moved. SO...fires "of unknown origin" started breaking out late at night. Nothing compels relocation quite like having your home burn down, after all. Being able to increase rents by 400% or more easily offset the costs of rebuilding. And no one was ever charged.
Anybody who thinks every place of business should be bland, understated, and quietly tasteful - if not part of a national chain - is welcome to live in Deerfield Township.

[PhillytoCincy]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Something smells here, and it ain't smoke. This is at least the second time this year that a major blaze has struck OTR in the middle of the night, first time being the old Moerlein brewery on Elm St. An increase in arson is a predictable occurrence in a changing neighborhood: it's perpetrated by owners looking to cut their losses if the community's in decline, or by speculators looking to remove obstacles to their developments if the area's on the upswing. It's one of the most difficult crimes to prove, and obviously more so if somebody's on the take. Rehabbers on Race St probably only shed tears if they were of joy, to see a "ghetto, eyesore" business go up in smoke while leaving their future loft condos unscathed. And since some (note that I wrote "some") real-estate types are slimeballs of the first degree, these things have a way of happening.
I've seen this scenario unfold where I live, during the '90s when my city did away with rent control. Landlords got frustrated when they found out that the restrictions were lifted only when current tenants moved. SO...fires "of unknown origin" started breaking out late at night. Nothing compels relocation quite like having your home burn down, after all. Being able to increase rents by 400% or more easily offset the costs of rebuilding. And no one was ever charged.
Anybody who thinks every place of business should be bland, understated, and quietly tasteful - if not part of a national chain - is welcome to live in Deerfield Township.

Great post!

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Cincy Rider

^^ Yeesh. You two have no heart or sense of local history. Did you read the story?

Oh, boo hoo. Get out the violins. That place was an eyesore unequalled by anything in the entire city. Anyone who has not seen this abomination needs to search for some photos. This idiot had lights plastered all over the OUTSIDE of his store. Not nice lights like the theatres of the past. I mean butt-ugly in your face bright lights, to the point where you could not walk by the place unless your eyes were averted, not that anyone with a brain would want to walk by there.

Sense of history? Nonsense of history!

The mercury vapor lights above the awning are not on in this photo and it does not capture the intensity of those Florescent tube lights facing the street, but any misguided person can see this toilet is not a good neighbor in Deerfield Twsp or Harlem: