By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The fate of one of the longest standing structures on West Wooster Street will be determined next Monday. A public hearing will be held on March 17, at 5:30 p.m., on a request to change the zoning for the historic building at 416 W. Wooster St.
Bowling Green City Council has set aside 1½ hours to hear public comments on the request to change the approximately 0.3 acres from PR pedestrian-residential zoning to R-2 medium density residential zoning.
The change would allow the structure, owned by Anesa Miller, to be turned into a duplex.
The zoning change request has stirred strong feelings by those who want to keep the house from being divided into a duplex and those who want to make sure the structure is not demolished.
At last week’s City Council meeting, council member Bill Herald suggested that council delay its decision on the request until the April 7 council meeting, rather than vote at the meeting immediately after the public hearing.
Herald said the public comments may include information that council should look into prior to making a decision, and delaying the vote would give them time to do so.
“We don’t want to have to vote on something we wish we had more time on,” he said.
However, after a brief discussion, council agreed to go ahead as planned and vote on the matter March 17.
In January, the city Planning Commission recommended the zoning change be approved.
Prior to its 4-2 decision, the commission members listened to two hours of pros and cons. They weighed the value of preserving one of the oldest buildings on West Wooster Street against preserving a hard-fought zoning code petitioned for by 650 citizens wanting to prevent more rental properties in their neighborhoods.
They heard from those wanting to save the structure that was once a hospital, and those worried that the zoning change will open the floodgates for others who want to turn their older homes into duplexes in the historic neighborhood. Many of those speaking at that meeting said if the zoning was not changed, the fate of the old home would likely be demolition.
Bowling Green physician and pharmacist Dr. Andrew J. Manville built the red brick building as his family home in the 1860s or 1870s. As was customary in that era, Manville saw patients in a specially equipped part of the house.
Later, the building was popularly called the “Old Hospital,” and historically has been known as Community Hospital. It served as the main medical center of Wood County from 1932 to 1951. Many residents still living in Northwest Ohio were born there.
By 1961 the hospital had become the Community Nursing Home, which became Adams Manor Nursing Home in 1965 and the Wooster Manor Nursing Home in 1984. In 1993, the nursing home closed, and the building has been vacant since then.
City Council will make the final ruling on the request.
Also at last week’s council meeting, representatives of the National Tractor Pullers Association presented an American flag in a case to Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher, to recognize the ongoing support of the city for the annual tractor pulling championships at the Wood County Fairgrounds.
The flag was one flown over the tractor pull in a military jet during last year’s competitions.
Aspacher thanked the tractor pull representatives, and recognized the economic impact of the annual event to the region. Every year, the campsites at the fairground are full, the bleachers are sold out, and hotels are fully booked in Bowling Green, Perrysburg and Findlay.
“The economic impact is broad,” Aspacher said. “We’re proud to be Pulltown USA.”
