The past week, after an extended period “away from home” at the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Genius of the Water statue has been returned to Cincinnati’s Fountain Square – heralding the upcoming re-opening of the renovated square, set for October 14. The statute caps the amazing Tyler-Davidson fountain, constructed in 1871 with a dedication “To the People of Cincinnati.” The 43-foot tall bronze fountain sits on a granite base, and over 500 gallons of water flow through the fountain each minute.

The re-design of Fountain Square has closed the heart of town at Fifth and Vine for an entire year. During that time, the entire space was reconfigured, with new and enhanced lighting added for the fountain as well as performing stages, landscaping and a cascading wall of water. Other new features include an enlarged ice rink, wi-fi access, a video wall and a new boutique restaurant.

Click here to visit the brand-new online home for Fountain Square, which has complete details on the renovation and upcoming grand opening celebration.

Photo Credits: Tyler-Davidson Fountain/stigs/Creative Commons -- Genius of the Water/axinar/Creative Commons

For the first time in a generation, Ohio will be losing a county courthouse – this time, two of them.

This past month, County Commissioners in Defiance endorsed a plan to raze the Defiance County Courthouse and replace it with a new, “period-looking” courthouse. The proposal will be placed before voters on November 7 in the form of an eight-year sales tax, which would generate $13.5 million for the project. The two final options included a plan to renovate and restore the existing courthouse, built in 1871-1873, as well as an additional building.

Then, yesterday, County Commissions voted to raze the Seneca County Courthouse. The Seneca County Courthouse, which sits majestically in the middle of Downtown Tiffin, was constructed beginning in 1884, and was designed by Elijah E. Myers, a Detroit architect who designed no less than four US state capitol buildings -- the Idaho Territorial Capitol (1885), and the current state capitol buildings in Michigan (1879), Colorado (1887) and Texas (1882).

In making their decision, Seneca County Commissioners cited only the results of a space-needs study recently conducted on county facilities. No mention was made of consideration of the impact that the loss of such an iconic structure would have on the future of downtown Tiffin.

The Seneca County Courthouse was included on the 2005 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites.

In both Defiance and Tiffin, the courthouses were somewhat handicapped by inappropriate alterations that occurred in the mid-20th century, in both cases leaving the buildings the source of public derision. Nevertheless, particularly in Tiffin, the architecturally-important exterior remains in largely original condition.

County courthouses serve as more than “space” for governmental functions. Courthouses also serve as community and county icons, and most importantly as symbols of tradition and respect for the rule of law. When they sit in the midst of a downtown full of 19th-century commercial buildings, their loss can also serve as a discouragement for preservation-minded developers to enter a market and to invest. Downtown takes a giant leap toward “Anywhere, USA,” and as it what makes a community unique that makes it marketable, the loss is potentially catastrophic.

The last county courthouse razed in Ohio was the Franklin County Courthouse in Columbus, which was demolished in 1974.

Photo Credits: Defiance County Courthouse, Defiance/Used with permission, Maggie's Ohio Courthouses -- Seneca County Courthouse, Tiffin/Preservation Ohio File Photo