Advocates for saving a building that once housed an ultra-secret World War II code-breaking program and now is targeted for demolition, will explain their case for preserving the building Thursday.

Preservation Dayton Inc., The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Debbie Desch Anderson will speak about saving Building 26 at the public hearing slated for 6:30 p.m. at Carillon Historic Park. Officials from the Ohio
Historic Preservation Office will moderate.

UD bought the land in 2005 from NCR Corp. and is working on a master plan to develop the parcel for commercial and academic uses.

The clandestine project conducted at Building 26 helped break German submarine codes, shorten World War II and save tens of thousands of lives. Joe Desch, a UD graduate and NCR chief research engineer headed the project. Desch Anderson is Joe Desch's daughter.

According to a press release from Preservation Dayton, participants will discuss the process UD used to reach its conclusion that Building 26 was not worth saving. The groups will present examples where the cost of saving a historic structure was less than building new and how Building 26 could be eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

A report commissioned by the university and released in March contends that alterations to the building have rendered it ineligible for the National Register.
Teri Rizvi, a spokeswoman for UD, said in a written statement that the university welcomes public feedback on how best to commemorate the work undertaken in Building 26.

"We know the site has historic significance and we are committed to ensuring (that) that story is told," she said. "We want to make sure we aren't missing any important information about the building and will consider new information about the structure that might emerge from the public meeting as we proceed."