MANSFIELD — Jennifer Kime knew saving the entire former Westinghouse “A” building in Mansfield was not in the cards.
The decaying, six-story structure, largely idle since the company ceased local operations in 1990, was simply too far gone and last week was approved for state funding to be demolished and cleaned up.
But Kime, the Downtown Mansfield Inc. CEO — and lover of local history — is working to preserve a piece of the factory where more than 8,000 area residents once worked.
In conjunction with the Richland County Historical Society, the City of Mansfield Preservation Commission, the Mansfield Memorial Museum and the Mansfield Industrial Museum, Kime is working on a plan that would preserve the mammoth stone and brick entry on the Fifth Street side of the “A” building.
Kime, whose grandfather once worked at Westinghouse, met with the Richland County Land Bank board on Wednesday to present the groups’ proposal.
The Land Bank acquired the building, and the adjoining 13-acre “concrete jungle,” all which is now scheduled for demolition and cleanup.
Kime admitted the effort is in the early stages and there are more questions than answers.
However, she said, the building is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, which provides certain legal rights for local residents.
“Not every building that’s built yesterday, we wanna save and is part of the historical process. There’s actually a criteria and a whole process that’s involved in what’s deeming a building historic.
“This building actually qualifies … in three ways — it’s association with Westinghouse manufacturing and Mansfield and the women’s history in the workforce,” Kime said.
The “A” building was built in 1919-1920 and was a cornerstone of the community for seven decades, building a variety of Westinghouse products.
One of those products Kime cited was “Cozy Glow,” a line of small radiators marketed toward families with children.
“It was like, you get the kids out of the bathroom, you’ve got this little cozy radiator to keep everybody warm. There was a whole floor, a production that took place in this building that was just the Cozy Glow,” Kime said.
She said women at that time made up about 20 percent of the workforce.
“In this particular building, this product line, it was completely staffed by women. There were, of course, some male supervisors just to make sure it was all right,” she said with a laugh.
“But the line was really staffed by women and it was a really innovative way to staff and to manage construction and manufacturing at the time. It was really a model,” Kime said.
She said the “Westinghouse Girls” had a significant impact on the community and region. Her presentation included a photo of the women, who were sent to New York to “model and show how production works in Westinghouse.”
“They were really a sample of what can be done in Westinghouse. It was really unique at that time to have women be the traveling show for manufacturing exhibits, but that was happening here in Mansfield,” Kime said.
“In that spirit, we request that you partner with us in creating the monument to Westinghouse, which also provides a place to honor the important history of the women’s labor market,” Kime said.
A letter from Kime and Alan Wigton, president of the Richland County Historical Society indicates the groups want to preserve the entry way “as a relic of our industrial past and a symbolic doorway to the future generations of women workers that have followed in the path of these trailblazers.”
The groups are asking that prior to demolition of the building that an engineering plan be funded to preserve the intact doorway in place that will result in a completed, free-standing monument.
“We will work closely with you on that engineering plan and subsequent submittal and approval to consulting parties and (the State Historic Preservation Office,” the letter said.
Dimensions of the proposed Westinghouse “A” building entry way monument.
After building demolition, the groups are asking for funding to complete the monument on the site.
“We will provide the research and verbiage for the plaque that will be attached to the monument relevant to the women’s history aspect of the site,” the duo wrote in the letter.
“With the location close to the road and train tracks, this monument could be easily incorporated into future developments in the footprint.
“While demolition is never the ideal outcome for historic buildings, we are excited to partner with the (Land Bank) on a concept to honor Mansfield and Richland County’s proud industrial past.
Kime told the board, “I don’t have the answers to all the questions, but I really wanted to give the Land Bank and the community,just a concept of what mitigation could look like here.
“And as far as the history and preservation community, this is something that we all really love and has gotten a lot of really exciting feedback. So it’s something that I think we’d like to look at and explore moving forward.” Kime said.
After her presentation, the Land Bank agreed to have its rehabilitation committee work with Kime, Wigton and others to explore the possibilities with an engineer.
Land Bank manager Amy Hamrick said none of the demolition contractors used by the agency have the expertise for such a project.
Kime said, “We don’t either. At DMI, we don’t build monuments every day. But it would be something that we would hope to partner on and would all work together.
“I think it really presents an opportunity to celebrate the past while you really look towards the future,” Kime said.
