A sure sign of the impending arrival of Autumn occurs this weekend as the college football season begins. All across Ohio, from NAIA to Division I programs, the sights and sounds of marching bands and cheering fans will fill stadiums that have witnessed decades of tradition.
At the University of Cincinnati, the Bearcats play in venerable Nippert Stadium, the sixth-oldest college football stadium in the country. Nippert was constructed between 1916 and 1924, and was named for the grandson of a founder of Proctor & Gamble, who died of injuries received during a game.
In Delaware, an $800,000 gift to Ohio Wesleyan University is allowing for needed upgrades to Selby Field, home of the Battling Bishops since 1921. The gift, part of the “Remembering Mr. Rickey” campaign to fund athletics and recreation departments, has funded the installation of a new artificial playing surface and leveraged other improvements.
And, of course, this Saturday marks another football season at the ‘Shoe – otherwise known as Ohio Stadium, home of the Buckeyes. The “newest” stadium in this trio, Ohio Stadium was opened in 1922, and since that time has welcomed over 30 million rabid fans to watch one of college football’s most storied programs. Ohio Stadium was extensively renovated a few years ago, however an effort was made to keep a great deal of the original stadium intact. To re-kindle a bit of Buckeye fever, click the "play" arrow on the image below to watch the OSU Marching band perform “Script Ohio.”
Folks in Bucyrus are readying the historic T&OC Depot to host the bi-annual Hobo Day on Saturday, September 2.
Twice each year, the Bucyrus Station and Association and Bucyrus Preservation Society welcome hobos from across the country, as this recent story on the event in the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum points out. Over 2,000 other visitors will enjoy a peddlers’ market, food, crafts and entertainment – the highlight of which is Bucyrus’ Hobo Band, undoubtedly the only hobo band in Ohio.
Proceeds from the event benefit the 1892 Toledo & Ohio Central Depot restoration and expansion project. Click here to visit the BPS website, which includes complete information on the preservation project.
Bucyrus is located on US30 in Crawford County, approximately 65 miles north of Columbus. Come on out for this one-of-a-kind event.
Photo Credit: Workman placing copper finial on T&OC Depot, Bucyrus, 2005/Bucyrus Preservation Society
Updates on downtown projects in communities located in four corners of the Buckeye State:
Southeast -- In Marietta, the historic downtown is included in areas under consideration for a renewed Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) project, according to this story in the Marietta Times. Property owners in those areas would receive tax abatements for investment in renovating existing structures or in new construction.
Northeast -- Geneva in Ashtabula County is anxiously awaiting word on whether or not its application for the Ohio Department of Development’s Small Downtown Revitalization Grant is successful. The community is one of nine on the pre-approval list, according to the Ashtabula Star-Beacon.
Northwest -- The Toledo Blade recently profiled the new water taxis that transport Downtown Toledo visitors to restaurants and events on the east side of the Maumee River. Already successful, taxi operators were recently able to secure a contract with the City of Toledo staff docks at the City’s Promenade Park.
Southwest-- The second phase of the City of Mason’s downtown revitalization plan has just begun. For an outstanding online overview of the revitalization project in this Warren County community, including graphics of all five project phases, click here to visit “Imagine Downtown Mason.”
A short word of thanks to everyone who has taken the time to join us on MyHometownOhio during the last month. Although it sounded like a nifty idea when we started this blog in late July, we really had no idea if it would fly -- and we have been thrilled with the results. Visitors have come from all over Ohio, as well as from places as diverse as Williamstown, Vermont; Winter Park, Florida; Plano, Texas; Woodland Hills, California... and as far away as Italy, the Netherlands and Australia -- and we have had well over 1,000 views of our site in that time.
We plan to add new features over the coming weeks as we work to make MyHometownOhio a top-notch source for news and opinion on preservation, revitalization, smart growth and heritage tourism in the Buckeye State. These will include original editorial pieces, interviews with Ohioans working across the state to preserve and protect historic buildings and communities, online presentations on HometownOhio and other programs, and integration with the new Preservation Ohio website, coming online this Fall.
Lastly -- remember you can easily subscribe to MyHometownOhio by entering your e-mail above -- that way, when the site is updated, you will receive an e-mail from FeedBlitz with that update.
OK, it isn’t specifically focused on Ohio -- but the website of the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills (which uses the acronym, “SPOOM”) is a fascinating world-wide look at efforts to preserve a unique chapter in industrial history, and well worth a visit.
In addition to organizational information, visitors will find links to other websites featuring restored and operating mills, peruse lists of mills open to the public and an event calendar, and even check out a handful of old mills available for purchase. There is also an interesting collection of FAQs – probably the only place on the web you can get answers to some the following questions (among others):
What is the difference between a mill and a factory?
Can you explain what a tub wheel is?
How can I preserve wooden gears?
Are there still operating mustard mills?
Any suggestions for insurance carriers for mills?
What is a French buhr?
Are both millstones grooved?
Ohio is not left out by any means. Under the section labeled “Mills Open to the Public,” two Ohio mills are profiled – the 1845 Lanterman’s Mill along Canfield Road in Youngstown, and the 1865 Isaac Ludwig Mill in Grand Rapids (located in the Providence Metro Park, part of the Toledo Metroparks System).
Last week the Columbus Dispatch reported that work has finally begun on World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker’s childhood home, part of Columbus’ new Rickenbacker Woods Museum and Historical Park. The restoration work comes after forty-plus years of discussion and planning.
Rickenbacker spent his earliest years in Columbus, and became a pilot after an initial stint as a race car driver (Rickenbacker placed 10th in the 1914 Indianapolis 500). During his heralded service in World War I, Rickenbacker scored 26 victories in aerial combat, a record which stood until World War II. His entire remaining life was spent in the airplane industry, including a long tenure as leader of Eastern Airlines. After his death in 1973, Rickenbacker was buried in Columbus’ Greenlawn Cemetery.
The park also honors inventor Granville Woods, who was known by some as the “Black Edison.” Wood’s inventions revolutionized the railroad industry. His best-known invention was one which allowed conductors to ascertain the distance between their train and others, which greatly decreased accidents and collisions.
To watch a short retrospective on the World War I exploits of America’s first ace flyer, including his early years in Columbus, click on the image below.
Photo Credit: Eddie Rickenbacker/Chicago Daily News Negative Collection, Catalog No. ichicdn s061821. Photo used courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society
On August 17, President Bush signed into law newly-enacted reform legislation that keeps historic conservation easements (also known as preservation or façade easements) an important tool for preserving historic resources.
This legislation is the culmination of intense scrutiny of the federal easement tax incentive program. Starting in 2004, the Internal Revenue Service highlighted problems with easement valuation, and also removed long-standing guidelines on easement valuation following national news stories that featured abuses of the program. Since that time, national and local preservation organizations have mobilized in support of easements, which are used to provide both ongoing protection for properties as well as tax benefits for easement donors. Instead of eliminating the program entirely, they argued, a better approach would be to fine-tune the donation process and to concentrate on punishing abuses.
The result is exactly that. Not only does the program survive, but for tax years 2006 and 2007, donors can actually deduct a higher yearly amount and/or carry over tax benefits over a longer period of time. Preservation easements remain the only federal tax incentive available to owners of non-income producing historic properties. To read about the changes to the program, click here to read an excellent overview on the legislation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Preservation Ohio administers the largest statewide preservation easement program in Ohio. The organization maintains easements that protect properties as diverse as an 1871 white frame church in Ottawa County, two 1830-era brick houses in Butler County, and the historic Colony Theatre in downtown Marietta, Washington County (pictured above). For more information on the Preservation Ohio Easement Program, click here.
On Wednesday, members of the City of Oxford Board of Zoning Appeals (“BZA”) voted unanimously to uphold a previous decision of the Oxford Historic and Architectural Preservation Commission to deny the request of a property owner to demolish a site related to President Benjamin Harrison’s days at Miami University.
Oxford’s unique historic preservation ordinance affords the BZA the power to overturn Commission decisions only if the Commission is found to have acted in an “unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious” manner in a hearing where no public comment is allowed. (Oxford Codified Ordinances Section 1331.061).
In their decision, the BZA cited the Commission’s attention to detail in formulating their recent decision to deny demolition. The Commission had examined plans of the current owner which called for demolition of the 1846 structure and replacement with a mixed-use development containing over 63,000 square feet of space in two four-story buildings, and felt that the price of restoration would place the house well within the current local re-sale market for similar properties.
One of only six houses remaining in Oxford that date from before the Civil War, a young Benjamin Harrison boarded at 101 West Church Street for a time during his years at Miami. The property was later used as funeral home.
Photo Credit: President Benjamin Harrison, taken 1888/Public Domain
