Demolition of historic Westwood house nears

WESTWOOD, OH (FOX19) -

A four-year battle to save the historic Gamble House is almost over with demolition expected in just a few days.

The house, built in the 1830's, was the home of James Gamble for nearly six decades. Gamble was the inventor of Ivory Soap.

Since 2009, preservationists have been trying to save the Gamble House.

The house stands as a legacy to Gamble' devotion to community and philanthropy. Gamble lived a life of service and donated large sums of money to build Cincinnati's Christ Hospital and Nippert Stadium.

"I hate to see anything of the past, you know, go away because this is something that's irreplaceable," explained Westwood resident Rick Kesterman. "Once it's gone, it's gone and you need to have some of the past to know where you've been."

President of the Westwood Historical Society, Liz Kissel, says demolition of the Gamble House will be a needless loss.

"This is a clearly historic building for our community in particular because part of that building goes back to the 1840's," said Kissel. "[It's] very sad that people had it in their ability to help us save this and they chose not to."

Kissel says that preservationists offered to buy or renovate the Gamble House but were turned down by the Greenacres Foundation which owns the property.

FOX19 attempted to reach out to the Greenacres Foundation to get their side of the story but they have not responded.

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Demolition of historic Westwood house nears