Today marks the third anniversary of MyHometownOhio, the country’s first self-authored blog on statewide preservation and revitalization. When we launched on July 21, 2006, we were very much alone - even the blog of the National Trust for Historic Preservation would not appear until a year and a half later. Today, many statewide and local preservation organizations have their own blogs, and “PreservationNation” has been around for some time. We ourselves have joined MyHometownOhio with sites on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr - as well as our own online social medium, The Ohio Preservation Network.
In the last three years, this site has covered both the "happy" and "sad" in preservation - the enactment of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit, the beginning of demolition discussions for the Seneca County Courthouse, several devastating fires in Ohio downtowns, and much more. All in all, we have published some 387 stories in those three years.
As Preservation Ohio looks at some exciting new programming, we suspect that there will be a good deal to report in the year to come; we’re certainly hoping that a 4-year anniversary is in the offing for July of 2010. In the meantime, continued thanks go to our readers, as well as to the thousands of Ohioans involved in promoting the past as a means to generate economic development and an outstanding quality of life in this state we all love.
2009 has seen an amazing explosion in the area of social media. The phenomenon that is Twitter, for instance, has recently had an impact in everything from national politics to international relations. Far from a static tool, social media is constantly evolving, changing and adapting to meet new opportunities and new technologies - particularly in the area of the mobile web (cell phones, etc.).
In many ways, America’s non-profit organizations are leading the charge into the creative use of social media. Here is a recent conference presentation on the use of social media in the non-profit world. Note, however, that as these statistics are already 7 months old, that today’s numbers have risen exponentially.
Preservation and revitalization are, perhaps not surprisingly, lagging behind this trend. Pacesetting organizations such as the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training are attempting to identify and promote the use of social media by preservation organizations through their excellent Voices from the Past website and Preservation Today web casts, however many local, statewide and even national preservation and revitalization organizations seem to be stuck in Web 2.0 - if they have any online presence at all.
Preservation Ohio has been at the forefront of this change since MyHometownOhio, the country’s first self-authored blog on statewide preservation, was launched in July of 2006. We currently have the most followed organizational page on Twitter of any statewide or national preservation organization, and have companion sites on Facebook, MySpace, Flickr and YouTube. This Summer we launched the country’s first self-contained social networking site for statewide preservation, The Ohio Preservation Network, and have forayed into the realm of live blogging for the recent announcement of the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites.
One thing about social media - the scene can change in just a few months. That’s why we are always looking a year down the road - to identify the social networking and media opportunities of the future that will better enable us to perform our mission.
As our readers know well, MyHometownOhio tends to be a compendium of news, trends and views on preservation across Ohio. On rare occasions in the last three years (so few, in fact, that they likely can be counted on two hands) we have also talked about Preservation Ohio as an organization - where we are, and where we’d like to be.
This Tuesday, the Executive Committee of Preservation Ohio met in Columbus to do just that. Composed of corporate officers and other elected members, the Committee meets in the interim between meetings of the Board of Trustees to deal with such subjects in depth. On Tuesday’s agenda was the proverbial “full plate” - from considering present needs to a long-term look at direction and programming possibilities.
Now moving into its 28th year of existence, there is a new energy at Preservation Ohio, so much so that at times it seems almost like a new organization. While fully affected by the dramatic economic downturn, there is also a general recognition by our Board that Ohio strongly needs a committed statewide preservation voice more than ever. Our recent trips to Mansfield, Hamilton, Yellow Springs, Columbus, Dayton and elsewhere have reinforced that sense of purpose. In community after community, we have discovered local individuals and organizations exploring new ways to preserve historic resources for a new economic reality. Many of these efforts are profiled, and will be profiled, in the pages of the Ohio Preservation Network, the country’s first statewide preservation-based social networking site. Its free and easy to register on the Network, by the way -- just click here.
If any of our readers would like to be a more involved part of the state’s preservation and preservation-based revitalization movements, you are more than welcome. From volunteers to Board membership, the door is open to you, your energy and your ideas. Its an intensely rewarding and enjoyable experience. For more information, please drop an e-mail to: info@preservationohio.org.
And - huge thanks to Falhgren Mortine for hosting today's Executive Committee meeting!
The Ohio Preservation News reader located on the left side of this blog provides an excellent way to learn what is happening in the word of preservation, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, heritage tourism, smart growth, archeology and local history not only here in Ohio, but across the country.
The site provides short descriptions and links to a wide range of media stories - many of which come from Ohio newspapers, online magazines and blogs. Because it uses RSS, or “Really Simple Syndication,” the reader is updated continuously throughout the day..and night...each time that a local newspaper or media source updates its own site.
To give a glimpse of what can be found - here is a small sampling of stories available just this afternoon from the Ohio Preservation News reader.
Preservation Ohio will be making an official announcement of the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites at the end of the month. The future of some properties is so tenuous, however, that a quicker unveiling of a particular listing makes real sense.
In this light, on Thursday, May 21 we took the occasion to visit Dayton as part of our series of trips across the state in honor of National Preservation Month. There we joined members of Preservation Dayton, the Five Oaks Neighborhood Association, the Friends of Julienne and other interested citizens for a press conference in front of the former Julienne High School. The school building, located at 325 Homewood Avenue in Dayton, is a massive educational facility constructed in 1927 connected adjacent to a convent. Used as a Catholic girls school for many decades, these buildings are now owned by Dayton Public Schools.
Dayton Public Schools are undergoing a large rebuilding program in conjunction with the Ohio School Facilities Commission, and have announced plans to replace Julienne with a small facility on the same site. Unlike what has occurred in other metro areas, however, including Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, almost no period educational buildings are being reused in Dayton. As a result, much of the history of the community, an outstanding opportunity to save taxpayer funds, and the ability to invest in buildings with longer potential lifespans have been lost.
Julienne represents an opportunity for Dayton Public Schools to make a positive statement for neighborhood stability, history and the educational needs of local students. If the present building represents more space than is needed, opportunities exist for combining uses to secure funding for renovation. If a new school is constructed elsewhere on the expansive grounds (over 12 acres, as can be seen in the photo to the right), the buildings represent an extraordinary resource for adaptive reuse - and several developers have already expressed interest in such a project. The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Preservation Ohio was pleased to announce the inclusion of Julienne on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites at the event, which also included a review of efforts to preserve the school (including an unsuccessful attempt at obtaining local landmark designation), a discussion of available options, and a statement by the Friends of Julienne alumni group. An interior tour of the school was conducted after the press conference.
Click here for coverage of the announcement in the Dayton Daily News. A slideshow of the press conference and photos taken during the post-conference tour is featured below (for our subscribers, this slideshow is available here).
Photo: Former Julienne High School, Dayton - Windows Live Local; All other photos are Preservation Ohio File Photos
Working in historic preservation tends to parallel “real life” - May and September are two of the busiest months of the year, packing in conferences, workshops, tours, and other opportunities to become engaged in preserving Ohio’s past. As May is also National Preservation Month, there is typically an added “boost” to this month’s event schedule.
Staff and Board members of Preservation Ohio have been incredibly busy over the last 20 days; many of those trips and events have been profiled in previous posts - and the rest of the month provides little change to that schedule. In less than two weeks we have hosted two live blogs, traveled for talks in Mansfield and Hamilton, conducted easement monitoring, and joined the Columbus Landmarks Foundation for site visits to two of the properties on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites. Later this week we travel again to Southwest Ohio to join with preservation-minded individuals and groups in two additional Ohio communities - Dayton and Yellow Springs.
This past Monday, we also enjoyed a treat -- lunch with two staff members from Heritage Ohio, Ohio’s other statewide preservation organization. This was the first time we have joined our friends there for a meal, and the experience was a pleasure.
We are pleased to share with you some views of our trip to Hamilton on Saturday, May 16, where we were fortunate to join with participants in the Butler County Preservation Roundtable. This annual event brings together representatives from the county’s numerous historical societies and local preservation organizations, each of whom provide reports on recent activities. Preservation Ohio gave a presentation on statewide preservation issues and opportunities.
Clockwise from the top left, these photos represent:
1. Participants in the roundtable joined in the historic Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Hamilton.
2. Each organization spoke in turn concerning recent preservation-related activities.
3. After the event, Preservation Ohio conducted in-person monitoring of its historic conservation easements in Hamilton, which protect the historic integrity of two early 19th century brick residences.
4. The Anthony Wayne Hotel, which Preservation Ohio acquired in the late 1990s and marketed to a preservation-friendly developer. This property is now a highly successful senior living facility.
5. The Mehrum-Lindley Block in downtown Hamilton was retained on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites. After the Roundtable, we walked the short two blocks to the site with nominator, Miami University student Nathaniel Kaelin, to take a closer look at the structure, which continues to have an uncertain future.
6. Preservation Ohio Executive Director Thomas Palmer detailed the work of Preservation Ohio across the state.
Over the next several weeks, Preservation Ohio goes "On the Road" to visit many corners of Ohio. Some of our visits will coincide with the release of the 2009 List of Ohio's Most Endangered Historic Sites; in others, we will be talking about issues relating to statewide preservation issues, financial incentives for older properties, and downtown & neighborhood revitalization.
Here's a quick look at some of our upcoming trips:
Several more trips are being planned. In each community, we plan to chronicle stories of communities coming together to recognize and work for the future of their historic resources. Stay tuned to this site, MyHometownOhio and the Ohio Preservation Network for photos, video and more.
This post is an update to our previous entry dated April 24, in which we revealed Preservation Ohio’s decision to file a motion in a pending legal action in the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas. That motion asked the Court for permission to act as amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” which would allow the organization to file briefs on relevant legal points in the case.
This type of involvement in important legal issues involving historic resources is a staple of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Legal Defense Fund. The Fund’s January 2009 Update, for instance, which can be accessed here, profiles the Trust’s amicus involvement in cases involving, among others, the donation of land containing significant archaeological resources, landmark designation for a church building in Washington, D.C., and a property owned by Preservation Delaware, Inc.. A handful of other statewides have filed such actions in local cases, including the Preservation League of New York State.
On Tuesday, April 28, the Court granted Preservation Ohio’s motion. Coverage of this decision from the Toledo Blade can be accessed here.
This is the first time that an Ohio statewide preservation organization has taken this important step. Such action is consistent with Preservation Ohio’s ongoing commitment to work for the future of Ohio’s past through education, partnership and advocacy. In the case, we are seeking to protect the legal and practical integrity of local historic districts, which, in turn, can have an impact in your own community.
Today marks the third anniversary of MyHometownOhio, the country’s first self-authored blog on statewide preservation and revitalization. When we launched on July 21, 2006, we were very much alone - even the blog of the National Trust for Historic Preservation would not appear until a year and a half later. Today, many statewide and local preservation organizations have their own blogs, and “PreservationNation” has been around for some time. We ourselves have joined MyHometownOhio with sites on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr - as well as our own online social medium, The Ohio Preservation Network.
2009 has seen an amazing explosion in the area of social media. The phenomenon that is Twitter, for instance, has recently had an impact in everything from national politics to international relations. Far from a static tool, social media is constantly evolving, changing and adapting to meet new opportunities and new technologies - particularly in the area of the mobile web (cell phones, etc.).
As our readers know well, MyHometownOhio tends to be a compendium of news, trends and views on preservation across Ohio. On rare occasions in the last three years (so few, in fact, that they likely can be counted on two hands) we have also talked about Preservation Ohio as an organization - where we are, and where we’d like to be.
The Ohio Preservation News reader located on the left side of this blog provides an excellent way to learn what is happening in the word of preservation, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, heritage tourism, smart growth, archeology and local history not only here in Ohio, but across the country.
Preservation Ohio will be making an official announcement of the 
Over the next several weeks, Preservation Ohio goes "On the Road" to visit many corners of Ohio. Some of our visits will coincide with the release of the 2009 List of Ohio's Most Endangered Historic Sites; in others, we will be talking about issues relating to statewide preservation issues, financial incentives for older properties, and downtown & neighborhood revitalization.
This post is an update to our previous entry dated April 24, in which we revealed Preservation Ohio’s decision to file a motion in a pending legal action in the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas. That motion asked the Court for permission to act as amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” which would allow the organization to file briefs on relevant legal points in the case.