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Restoration of the M. E. Frazier Building brings back history of industrial architecture in Seville.
Historical Overview
The M. E. Frazier Building (located at 25 Center Street) takes a commanding role in the streetscape. Built around 1920-1930, this yellow brick building is a fine example of Seville’s art deco industrial architecture. Characterized by its open floorplan, the building is one large space with a concrete floor with a staircase at the front of the building leads to a narrow office extending the width of the building on the second floor overlooking the street.
The front façade is a simple three-bay design, separated by engaged columns that extent the full height of the building and puncture the brickwork cornice along the top (Figure 1). Common in art deco design, the use of these columns as an architectural motif give nod to the actual construction technique used in the building. As with most industrial buildings created at this time, the structural support does not come from its walls but rather from brick columns placed 12 feet apart along the side of the building supporting an iron roof structure. The space between each brick column was then filled in with clay tile blocks (precursor to cinderblocks) to enclose the space. This design was common in industrial architecture because it allowed for a large open space without the need for interior walls that would restrict the ability for the building to function for manufacturing.
Figure 1. 25 Center Street in use by Helleen Ford, c. 1960s. Image in the Archive of the Seville Preservation Project Collection of Digital Images, gatherd from the Seville Bicentennial Facbook page.
This three-bay design separates the façade into three distinct spaces. On the street level this is marked by a recessed space to service a large receiving door, flanked by display areas with windows on two sides that would be used to fully show off the products inside. Large openings on the second level are centered in each of these three bays and originally held windows that filled each opening. The large windows were removed sometime in the 1970s-80s, with the center opening completely covered with a wood panel and the two on either end of the building infilled in to hold much smaller windows.
The architectural and fuctional record of this building is mentioned in Zola F. Murray’s 1941 book Seville, Ohio; 1816-1941, saying “The site of Rannacker’s Garage was occupied in the early days by a cabinet shop… About 1890 this building was torn down and a new building became the headquarters of M. E. Frazier who sold farm implements. Frazier enlarged the building which was used as a garage and auto Salesroom by Abel Bostwick after Frazier Co. Vacated it.”[1]
While the historical record of the building is unclear, the current structure is not the original building built by M. E. Frazier in 1890, but is most likely a version that was redesigned during the later expansion of the building by Frazier. Evidence of Frazier enlarging the building is visible by a change in building materials used in the interior side walls, that indicate the removal of the original rear wall and the addition used to extend the building back. during this, a new roof structure consisting of steel girders resting on brick columns were added and most likely led to the redesign of the front facade to accommodate the new pitch of the roof.
Lee Cavin reiterated this in his book 1816-1966; A Book About Seville, Ohio, and adds that “A Ford agency has occupied the structure almost continuously since the early 1940s… Halleen Ford bought the agency in 1964…”[2] (Figure 2)
Figure 2. View down Center Street from Milton street at the center of town. The M . E. Frazier building (third from the right) visible as a Ford dealership, c. 1954. Image in the collection of the Archive of the Seville Preservation Project.
With the destruction of other buildings created for manufacturing and industrial use in downtown Seville, this stands as one of the few reminders of Seville's strong industrial past.
After Helleen ford moved out of this building to a location north of the highway on Route 3, they reverted control of the dealership parking lot in front of the building back to Seville, who later created Freeman Park out of a portion of it. The building then changed hands and was used for retail by antique stores, and an auction house (Figure 3). It was during this time that the alterations to the second floor windows occured, before being purchased by the current owners.
Figure 3. Lippo and Bradley's Antiques in 25 Center Street, c. 1970s. Image in the Archive of the Seville Preservation Project Collection of Digital Images, gatherd from the Seville Bicentennial Facebook page.
[1] Zola F. Murray, Seville Ohio; 1816-1941 (The Banner-Press; Wadsworth Ohio, 1941), p 27.
[2] Lee Cavin, 1816-1966: A Book About Seville, Ohio (Seville Chronicle: Seville,1966), p 36.
Exterior Restoration
The building retains most of its original components, including its original street level wood frame display windows, though the sillplates show signs of rot. These will be conserved with components replaced as needed with like material.
The most noticable change to the front façade will come with the replacement of the infill to the original openins on the second floor. These will be replaced with full size windows that are compatable with the original design and sympathetic to the historic nature of the building (Figure 4).
Figure 4. New windows being installed to complete the original design as intended for turn of the century industrial architecture.
In June 2020, the building belonging to Seville Broze burned down. While the fire was contained to the stucture next door, the M. E. Frazier building suffered dammage to the back portion of the South exterior wall when an I-beam from the Bronze building crashed through the clay tile block. This unforseen damage is also addressed as part of the exterior restoration process, to endure that materials used are compatable and symathetic to the rest of the building.
Project Gallery
If you have images or stories of this building to share, please contact the Seville Preservation Project at sevillepreservation@gmail.com