Ohio's top court won't hear bid to demolish King Records

It looks like the former King Records building in Cincinnati's Evanston neighborhood will avoid the wrecking ball for a little while longer.

In a unanimous decision Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Dynamic Industries, which owns the property in the 1500 block of Brewster Ave., to override city zoning restrictions and lower court decisions in an effort to demolish the property.

King Records, which was founded by Syd Nathan, became one of the nation’s most influential independent labels in the 1940s and 1950s. At its peak, the racially integrated label employed more than 400 people and was the nation's sixth-largest record company. King Records had a diverse catalog of artists including James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Ike Turner, Hank Ballard, Otis Redding, John Lee Hooker and LaVern Baker.

The complex is considered a treasure in the eyes of musicians, music fans and historians around the world. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unveiled a city-funded historic marker in 2008 to honor the work of King Records.

City Council unanimously voted in October 2015 to change the zoning at 1532-1540 Brewster Ave. to make it more difficult to demolish the property. That vote followed a petition filed in May from the Bootsy Collins Foundation and Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation to designate the structure as a local historic landmark. The petition also had support from the Cincinnati Preservation Association and Evanston Community Council.

Located just west of Montgomery Road and north of Interstate 71, the King Records property now has two different owners. Dynamic Industries sought to demolish the building it owns in June 2015, a month after the historic designation petition was filed, as part of its expansion plans. The company also owns vacant land adjacent to the building.

The court told Dynamic Industries it could seek a certificate of appropriateness from the city to try and demolish the property. Dynamic told the court it sustained undue monetary burdens and couldn't execute its property rights by not being allowed to tear the building down.

If Dynamic were to follow through with the application, the city's Historic Conservation Board could choose to reject or deny the request. If Dynamic lost that request, similar to owners of the Davis Furniture building in Over-the-Rhine or the former Dennison Hotel downtown, it could appear to the city's Zoning Appeals Board and then to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.