The majority of the building provides views of the nature surrounding it.
“We were thinking conservatory, lots of glass to see and bring the outdoors in,” Randy Bishop, administrator for the event center complex and community gathering space. “Because of the beauty of the property, we wanted to make this (building) part of the beauty of the property. ”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Bishop said Centerville is known for having the most limestone buildings in the state of Ohio, which is why Centerville limestone was incorporated into the center’s design.
“There was a lot of it on the property originally, and there’s a lot of it underground, dug up over the years,” he said.
Prior to the event center being built, the site made available a tent that could hold 200 people but on the other side that could hold 200 “but you were outdoors (and) still at the whim of Mother Nature,” Bishop said.
The project was initiated in 2018 when Centerville City Manager Wayne Davis met with Bishop.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“He asked us what our vision was for the facility. What could we do better,” Bishop said. “So I had told him that we needed to build a facility to seat 200 year round, because I was only able to do large groups six months out of the year.”
Bishop said having the new center is great for not just for those looking to host personal celebrations, but also for the area, in general.
“Benham’s Grove not only is a rental facility, but this is a community gathering place,” he said. ”We hold a lot of city events here. We’re part of the Americana Festival. We do tree lighting every year with Santa Claus. There are many groups that host fundraisers."
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
While larger gatherings can be hosted in the event center, smaller ones can be held at the site’s completely renovated Gerber House, a 19th Century farmhouse.
Total cost of the entire Benham’s Grove project is $9.7 million, including constructing the event center (nearly $7 million), renovating Gerber House ($1.6 million), a cottage ($75,000) and event barn ($75,000), plus all aspects of design (nearly $1.1 million).
State capital funding for the project was $200,000, according to the city.
Site improvements also include building a new gazebo and adding parking.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Benham’s Grove is located on property that once was part of a farm owned by Aaron Nutt, one of Centerville’s founders, according to the city. Various other owners followed until 1844, when merchant Joseph Benham purchased the 10-acre site that would become Benham’s Grove, the city said.
Benham constructed the site’s Victorian-era style farmhouse there around 1885, one that eventually became known by the last name of a subsequent owner — Gerber.
The property changed hands several times over the ensuing years before the city of Centerville purchased it in 1991, renovated it and opened it as a community gathering space the following year.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Bishop said restoring the historic portion of Benham’s Grove over the past year was “very important” to the city to ensure it would remain there for generations to come.
“Over the 33 years years we’ve been open, between public events and private events, we’ve had over a million people on the property.” Bishop said. “So of course, that took a toll on a house that was already 100-and-some years old.
“We had to do some reinforcing down in the basement, on the flooring and stuff, just to make sure, and when we took everything up, we found some issues that we had to fix.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
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