DAYTON, Ohio — Rabbit Hole Books, the downtown Dayton bookstore at 29 W. First St., vowed to stay open Monday, Nov. 2, as the City of Dayton moved to revoke the building’s temporary occupancy authorization over a required second exit, according to WHIO.
The city says a required second exit, including a new exit door and a garage opening, has been approved on paper but not built or inspected, after multiple extensions, according to WHIO. "The City must make decisions based on the actual conditions of the building, not anticipated future work," the city said, according to WHIO reporting.
The store disputes the city’s account. Rabbit Hole Books called the safety claims false and says it has three doors onto First Street, according to WHIO and Dayton 24/7 Now reporting. Executive Director Larkin Vonalt told Dayton 24/7 Now she plans to seek an injunction. "We are not going to close on Monday," Vonalt told Dayton 24/7 Now.
WHIO returned to the story Monday evening, Nov. 2, reporting that the bookstore is fighting to stay open amid the city dispute over building safety. The Monday deadline set up a direct standoff: a city revocation on one side, and a store that says its doors meet the requirement and that it will ask a court to intervene on the other.
The dispute follows a difficult year for the building. Rabbit Hole Books reopened on Thursday, April 23, after more than two months of closure following a fire in the garage building where the bookstore is located on West First Street in downtown Dayton, according to Dayton Vistas’ coverage of the store’s reopening. The condition of that garage building has fed the ongoing disputes between the bookstore and the city, according to Dayton Vistas.
For downtown Dayton, the stakes are straightforward: an independent bookstore that draws readers to First Street is arguing it is safe and open, while the city argues occupancy rules cannot rest on work that is planned rather than finished and inspected. Both positions are now headed for a paper fight — an injunction request against a revocation — rather than a quiet fix.
What happens next: watch for the store’s injunction filing and any court ruling on whether it can remain open while the second-exit work is completed and inspected, and for the city’s next statement on the building’s occupancy status.
Photo: Sashimi-b, CC BY 4.0