Touring the old Crosley Building in Camp Washington, former home of 700 WLW

See the inside of the vacant old Crosley Building in Camp Washington!

(Cincinnati) -- You see it on your right as you drive south on I-75 just before the Hopple Street exit.

The 8-story Crosley Building at 1329 Arlington Street off Spring Grove Avenue in Camp Washington is 92 years old in 2022. And while it is a hideous eyesore, its history and potential make it one of the most fascinating buildings in Cincinnati.

The former home to 700 WLW and founder Powell Crosley's broadcasting and manufacturing empire has been a magnet for vandals for many years. Graffiti everywhere. Almost all the windows broken. Ugly inside and out.

The Crosley Building was not only home to 700 WLW but to WSAI. As Cincinnati radio historian Mike Martini writes, both stations "moved out of Arlington Street in 1942 to a renovated Elks Hall in downtown Cincinnati dubbed 'Crosley Square' because Crosley Manufacturing was producing some top-secret equipment for the War effort including a proximity fuse and improved bomb sights".

Martini had long hoped to see the inside of the Crosley Building. And on March 22, 2022 he joined 700 WLW's Matt Reis for a once-in-a-lifetime tour that was guided by Graham Parr, who is the development director with TWG, an Indianapolis firm that plans to develop the building into apartment living. Martini and Reis documented their tour on video. In it you'll discover what could be some of the original electrical equipment that relayed WLW programming to the huge transmitter complex in Mason. And you'll also see the ruins of Powell Crosley's once luxurious wood paneled office.

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The side of the Crosley Building along Arlington Street in Camp Washington. Company logo is over the door.
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Graham Parr of TWG and Cincinnati radio historian Mike Martini in Powell Crosley's office at the Crosley Building in Camp Washington.
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A piece of crown molding in Powell Crosley's office at the Crosley Building in Camp Washington. The ceiling has collapsed.
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Surprise discovery of electronic equipment at the old Crosley Building in Camp Washington that may have transmitted 700 WLW programming to the broadcast tower in Mason.
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Surprise discovery of electronic equipment at the old Crosley Building in Camp Washington that may have transmitted 700 WLW programming to the broadcast tower in Mason.
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One of the vacant floors of the old Crosley Building in Camp Washington.
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Cincinnati radio historian Mike Martini with Graham Parr of TWG, the Indianapolis developer of the Crosley Building in Camp Washington.
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An old washroom at the Crosley Building in Camp Washington.
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Up on the roof at the Crosley Building in Camp Washington with Graham Parr of Indianapolis developer TWG.