The fate of the A.N. Myers House at 408 Center Street in Ashland remains cloudy, after the City of Ashland Historic Preservation Board voted against an application to demolish the structure by the building's owner.

Here's the "twist" - the owner is the Ashland Historical Society!

A feasibility study attached to the demolition application stated that the cost of transforming the house into museum and office space would approach $1 million.  In its place, the Society planned to erect a new, "similar" structure, according to a story in the Ashland Times-Gazette, but until that could occur, the space would remain vacant.  Opponents of the demolition request noted that the Society had failed to present plans on what would be built in place of the house, and further shared that the Center Street house was one of few remaining buildings associated with the Myers family, local industrialists and community benefactors.

In June, the Society received communication from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office declining the Society's request to have the building declared "non-contributing" to the local National Register Historic District along Center Street.  The Society has the right to appeal the Board's decision.

For more information, click here to read about the Historic Preservation Board's vote in the Ashland Times-Gazette (requires free registration).  To take a virtual tour of Center Street in Ashland, click here.

Photo: A.N. Myers House, Ashland/Public Domain