Dayton Sells Bomberger Center to Ahiska Turkish American Community

Image The city of Dayton is selling the Bomberger Center to the Ahiska Turkish American Community Center of Dayton. The 22,000-square-foot center, at 1306 E. Fifth St., will be used as a multi-purpose community center for education, recreation and community services for the Ahiska Turkish community and others. Some of the services to be offered will include English as Second Language (ESL) and citizenship classes.


The Ahiska Turkish American Community Center of Dayton is a nonprofit that serves Dayton’s Ahiska Turkish community, an immigrant community estimated to include 350 families. The community began settling in Dayton in 2005.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Ahiska Turkish American Community Center agrees to a purchase price of $831,000, an amount that will be forgiven over a 10-year period if the organization continues to operate and maintain the building as agreed. Under the agreement, the facility will remain as a community center.

The Ahiska Center, through the grants it received from the Turkish government, is committing $45,000 to short-term repairs of the building’s entrance walkways and stairs, and will set aside an additional $50,000 for possible future major repairs. The Turkish government has also expressed its continued commitment to the operation and upkeep of the center. The group is expected to begin moving into the facility shortly.

Supporting the development of immigrant communities is one of the city of Dayton’s key objectives. In late 2011, the city launched Welcome Dayton, a framework for making Dayton an immigrant friendly community.

“The city of Dayton is very pleased to support the continued growth of the Ahiska Turkish community in Dayton,” Mayor Gary Leitzell said. “Their use of the Bomberger Center supports their own growth and contributes to the revitalization of our neighborhoods.”

Fatih Yıldız, the Turkish consul general from Chicago, said, “This building, under its new status, will be deemed as a center not only for the Ahiska Turks in Dayton, but for many other Ahiska Turks in different states. We are confident that honest and hardworking Ahiska Turks will turn this center into a symbol of unity and integration, and will become net contributors to the prosperous future of the city of Dayton.”

Islom Shakhbandarov, president of the Ahiska Turkish American Community Center of Dayton, said, “We intend to show our continued appreciation by contributing to the economic and cultural success of Dayton long into the future.”

The building’s parking lot, the adjacent public park and the adjacent Sunrise Center building will remain under city of Dayton ownership. (Dayton Business Journal)
Last modified onSaturday, 06 May 2017 10:07