Followers of the Seneca County Courthouse saga know of the ongoing involvement of the Toledo Blade, which has provided both substantial coverage and also a willingness to actually bring suit to support transparent public decision making. Importantly, however, the Blade has also written several editorials that strongly support the basic tenets of historic preservation – among which are its roles in community revitalization, quality of life and heritage tourism.

This past weekend, another Ohio major paper also editorialized about the role of preservation in community life and development. While the major focus of this Dayton Daily News editorial (“Our View: Building 26 debacle can’t be repeated") was the pending loss of the significant Building 26 on the campus of the University of Dayton, it went on to discuss how that controversy highlights problems in how Dayton appreciates and approaches its historic resources. As the importance of these “treasures” is deemed important, the paper says that “Dayton's dogged preservationists, the region's elected leaders and those who care about Dayton's past — and future — have to get together and figure out to prevent another situation where there's arguing among so many — all of whom want and need Dayton to do well.”

This discussion has now moved to the Daily News blog (click here), where the editorial staff has asked the community to share its views on what local properties merit preservation, and also on what process should be used to select this number. Over a dozen News readers have already responded with their answers to these questions, and their comments are worth reading.

Photo:  Downtown Dayton - jimcrotty/Creative Commons License