Mansfield Planning Commission has questions about Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow Museum

MANSFIELD — Plans for the Westinghouse Home of Tomorrow Museum were placed on hold Tuesday by the city Planning Commission.

Commission members asked Jerry Miller, president of the North Central Ohio Industrial Museum, to respond in writing to questions from neighbors before they vote on a request for a conditional-use permit that would allow the residence at 895 Andover Road to be used as a museum.

Planning Commission member Jotika Shetty, who made the motion to table the request, asked Miller for written answers to questions, including those posed Tuesday by resident Sharlene Neumann, who lives across the street from the property at 873 Dickson Parkway.

The decision to table the request for more information was also supported during the meeting by Cheryl Meier, a City Council member whose 2nd Ward includes the property.

“I’m going to remain neutral on this, but I think there are some unanswered questions that have been brought up as far as signage (and) lighting. I guess it would just be good to hear all of the plans,” Meier said.

Miller said the museum would operate by-appointment only, likely Thursday through Sunday, with a museum director living on the second floor. He said it’s possible a donor appreciation/open house could be scheduled.

Built by Westinghouse in 1934, the Home of Tomorrow showcased the latest electric appliances manufactured in Mansfield at the time. More than 250,000 visitors reportedly toured the home during its first two years before it became a private residence.

The property is zoned R-1 residential. That zoning allows for museums under conditional-use permits granted by the Planning Commission, “subject to site-plan approval.”

Neumann, who handed commission members questions in writing, expressed verbally a myriad of concerns about the proposal, many based on the increased traffic, visitors, loss of privacy, light pollution, potential expansion and more.

“My main concern is the character of my neighborhood,” she said. “This is Woodland. It will fundamentally change the character of my neighborhood.”

Neumann said she understands there are those who support the plan, including two other neighbors who addressed the commission Tuesday.

“I do understand that, but (my husband and I) are trying to retire and the last thing I want is a museum right across the street,” Neumann said.

“The decision you’re making today (affects) more than just one property. It’s about preserving the integrity of our well-established residential neighborhood that families have invested in for decades.”

Commission members also asked for a site plan of the proposal and an operating plan that would include hours of operation for the museum.

“I know nobody wants another meeting, but we don’t want to hasten the matter without making sure that we address any concerns,” Shetty said.

She also noted the commission needs to examine the site plan to determine “how it lays out in consideration to the conditions that need to be addressed under the zoning code.

The NCOIM announced in June it had signed a letter of intent with current owner Kelly Converse to purchase the house, which it said was the first step toward purchasing and restoring the landmark home as a public museum.

The NCOIM, based inside the former Ohio State Reformatory at 100 Reformatory Road, was launched by Miller five years ago “to honor, preserve, and showcase north central Ohio’s rich industrial and manufacturing history while highlighting the region’s ongoing innovation and entrepreneurial spirit.”

In its report, the city’s building code and permits department recommended approval for the plan, though it expressed concerns about the closeness of one end of the horseshoe drive to a nearby intersection.

“Traffic would increase a few days a week, but hours are by appointment. Close proximity to Cook Road and Lexington Avenue would keep most of the traffic to the southeast corner of Woodland,” the city department wrote in its report to the commission.

In June, Miller told Richland Source the idea grew to turn the structure into a museum after years of admiration for the property.

Miller and his wife moved into the Woodland Garden Apartments five years ago, placing them just steps away from the home.

“We see the Home of Tomorrow every day,” Miller said in June.

He said local historians know the home has significant importance to the Woodland neighborhood of Mansfield, starting with the Dickson Family Farm in the late 1800s and stretching from the Dickson Woodland Echoes Gardens from 1922 to 1949.

He said the history continued with Dickson’s development of the Woodland neighborhood, beginning in 1926 with the first home built by William Davey, founder of the Mansfield Sheet and Tin Plate Company in 1912, and later the Home of Tomorrow in 1934.

Last fall, Miller loaned the home’s original 1933 architectural plans — drawn by Vern Redding — to Converse. During that exchange, he first raised the idea of the museum acquiring the property, where Converse has lived for 18 years.

Miller has said NCOIM plans to restore the home’s first floor to its original appearance and highlight the role Westinghouse played in shaping Mansfield’s economy.

At its peak, Westinghouse employed thousands of workers in Mansfield. Before World War II, the company employed roughly 6,000 people locally, a number that later grew to about 8,400. The factory closed its Mansfield operations at the end of 1990.

Museum plans also call for exhibits exploring Art Deco architecture, the Woodland neighborhood’s history and Mansfield’s manufacturing heritage.

Converse, the city’s finance director, told commission members she has lived in the house for 18 years and that the NCOIM plans would not create additional problems for the neighborhood. She said she didn’t know of the house’s historical origins when she moved into the residence.

She said there is ample parking for the by-appointment-only museum and that tours would have to be limited in size to be effective.

“As far as expansion being a concern, there isn’t any room to expand anything,” she said, adding a donor appreciation/open house event wouldn’t generate more traffic than graduation parties hosted by Woodland residents.

“(It) would be no different than anyone’s graduation party where all of these homes in the neighborhood throw up a tent in their yard and 45 of their family members and friends come and clog the street, and they all gather under a tent for a couple of hours to have a party,” Converse said.

“I’m asking you to be open-minded about this,” she told commission members. “It would be fantastic if we could restore it and bring back some of that glory that originally existed here.”

Converse said once she learned the origins of the home, she wanted to restore it.

“(But) I am a single parent still raising children and in the 18 years that I’ve been there, it has been an impossibility for me. We have made progress toward it, but it’s a dream I have to give up and pass along to someone who actually has the means to see it through.

“I fully support this plan for the home,” Converse said.

Neighbor Thomas Meehan, who lives at 884 Dickson Parkway, said he supports the proposal, citing the historical value to the community.

“I’d be all for letting school kids tour this place as a class,” he said. “I am in my yard all the time and I don’t see big problems.”

He said Miller has a track record for success.

“Look at what he has accomplished with the museum, with his business. He will make it happen. I think it’s going to be in really good hands,” Meehan said.

“It will be good for Mansfield and it could be a springboard for other good things to happen in Woodland. So I look for it as very positive,” he said.

Planning Commission rejects plan to reopen American Legion Post 676

Commission members unanimously denied a request to reopen American Legion post 676 at 460 Harmon St.

The vote came after a lengthy discussion that included many residents of the area speaking against the idea, which would include the post obtaining a liquor license to operate a canteen.

A conditional-use permit to reopen the site is needed because the structure is in an R-2 residential area that has been vacant for more than two years. The club closed in 2022.

In its report, the city’s building code and permits department recommended denying the request, citing a “long history of police calls and liquor violations, shootings and disturbances.”

Officials cited murders at the location in 2003 and 2004 and an argument there in 2016 that led to a murder elsewhere in Mansfield.

One resident praised the service of veterans, but opposed the post reopening.

“They have fought for us to have peace (in the neighborhood),” she said.