Great news – the Ohio Historic Preservation Office has announced that there will be a second round of Certified Local Government (CLG) grants available during this fiscal year. As with the first funding round, which resulted in over $67,000 going to deserving projects across the state, there is a minimum 30% local matching requirement. The total available this round is $21,421.

These grants are available to Ohio’s 45 CLG communities. Projects can be undertaken and administered by a third party, provided that that entity is so designated by local government. The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7, 2008.

Complete application details, as well as a list of Certified Local Governments in Ohio which qualify for funding, are available by clicking here.

Sometimes its nice to just sit back and listen. There are several places on the Internet where you can do just that and learn about Ohio at the same time. Here is a sampling of such online places where you can listen and learn about Ohio’s past, as well as the state's unique culture and way of life. All of them can be enjoyed on your computer itself, and some of them can also be downloaded into your mp3 player and taken with you to enjoy on your evening walk.

Life in Ohio Podcast – The Life in Ohio Podcast, delivered monthly, is composed of a little bit of… well, everything. According to its creator, the podcast is “…about my life in Ohio, What there is to do in Ohio, Ohio History and Ohio News. I also promote ANY Ohio based band..” Editions have included trips to the Ohio State Fair, Circleville Pumpkin Show and the Motts Military Museum in Groveport. Its not all about Ohio history per se, but it is a lot about what its like to live in the Buckeye State in the early 21st century.

Discover Ohio -- The Division of Travel and Tourism of the Ohio Department of Development has a wide range of podcasts that touch on local Ohio history. Listeners can experience “scary Mansfield” through virtual trips to the Ohio State Reformatory and Malabar Farm, and can learn about the history of glassmaking in Tiffin. Another podcast features an interview with Vicky Branson of the Ohio Historical Society, who reviews a wide range of heritage attractions (click on “Celebrate Ohio History.”)

Ohioana Authors – This website includes dozens of radio that “…showcase Ohio’s rich literary heritage.” Learn about the lives and works of writers, poets and dramatists such as James Thurber, R.L. Stine, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Hart Crane, Gloria Steinem, Sherwood Anderson, and many others. Click on a given name, and the podcast is at the bottom of a page of information concerning that author – just click on the arrow to begin.

The Inside View – This series focuses on specific artifacts of Ohio’s archeological history as an accompaniment to the display “Windows to Our Collections: Ohio’s Ancient Past” at the Ohio Historical Society. While each episode is presented online in a video format via YouTube, each can also be downloaded on an IPOD or other mp3 player. Viewers and listeners can learn about specific items such as animal masks and boatstones, as well as learning about various archeological sites.

Advocates of preservation development projects across the state were taken aback recently when the first press release announcing awards under the new historic preservation tax credit labeled it “…the $120 million Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program….” (click here to access that announcement). This was the first mention of a possible cap on the program, which had been heralded as being available to 100 projects a year on a two-year trial basis.

Since November, preservation advocates have been interfacing with leaders in state government to identify the source for and permanence of the $120 million figure. This is a highly significant development, as applications submitted for the first year’s projects suggest that funding may already be an issue.

On Sunday, the Toledo Blade covered this story (click here) in the context of reviewing possible state assistance for the Seneca County Courthouse. One of the leading ideas for Courthouse funding is the use of the new tax credit, which is currently unavailable to county government. The Blade story points out that the 22 projects which have already been awarded credits have exceeded $50 million in tax credits – suggesting that money may dry up before many very deserving projects have had their chance. Over 50 additional applications are pending for this year alone. According to the Blade, the cap is for the program’s first year – however other sources state that the $120 million cap may actually be for the entire pilot program, which raises the spectre that the credit may be unavailable in the July 2008 application cycle.

Substantial discussion is taking place concerning this important issue, and Preservation Ohio will provide regular updates on MyHometownOhio concerning this development.

Photo: Ohio Statehouse -- Public Domain

As readers of this blog know, and as preservationists from across Ohio are well aware, the fate of the Seneca County Courthouse has hung in the balance for many months – awaiting the final verdict of demolition or renovation. If lost, the building would represent the first 19th century Ohio courthouse lost in over 40 years – and the first non-urban 19th century Ohio courthouse lost in 60 years.

One front in that ongoing public discussion has been occurring in the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas, where a group of six individuals brought suit against the County Commissioners. Among allegations in the Tiffin lawsuit are a breach of fiduciary duty on behalf of the Commissioners, as well as a failure of the Commissioners to follow Ohio law in rendering their demolition decision.

Now, in a nearby community, another Common Pleas lawsuit has been filed in an effort to prevent demolition of a public building – in this case, the historic 1917 Galion High School in Galion, Crawford County. Despite the fact that a new high school was constructed elsewhere as a part of an Ohio School Facilities Commission project, and despite years of work by supporters of an adaptive reuse plan for the school building, the local Board of Education chose to demolish the local landmark structure with no plans for the building site. Reasons cited for the Board’s decision are largely based on traditional biases against older buildings. In Galion, however, the situation has a “twist” – the building was constructed on a cemetery, and the land is therefore contaminated with arsenic.

The 1917 Galion High School building is the only known secondary educational building designed by the Columbus firm of Howard & Merriam – the architects for the country’s first Presidential Library, the Hayes Presidential Library in Fremont. Other buildings designed by the firm include University Hall, the first building on the campus of Bowling Green State University, and the Paulding County Library. The Galion school was also one of the first buildings in the world to feature an internal telephone system. Galion High School is also the alma mater for Preservation Ohio Executive Director Thomas Palmer, and former Heritage Ohio Executive Director Pauline Eaton.

And in another "twist," the lawsuits in Tiffin and Galion are both being handled by the same attorney.  Click here to read about the recently-filed Galion action.

The Captain Scott House in Alexandria has been moved out of harm's way, thanks to fund-raising efforts by the Friends of the Capitan Scott House Committee and corporate donors. The house was the subject of a previous story in MyHometownOhio. Fundraising, however, continues in earnest for additional, unanticipated moving costs and interior restoration.

It is a happy time in Downtown Urbana, as the Douglas Inn renovations move forward. Scaffolding has been removed, new tax credits applied for and received, and work is scheduled to begin the moment that weather breaks. The Douglas was included in the 2006 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites, and has been a focus of work for both Preservation Ohio and Heritage Ohio.

The Marcel Breuer-designed Cleveland Trust Tower in downtown Cleveland was the subject of a recent bid by developers hoping to transform it into both hotel and residential space. The building was included in the 2007 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites, and was previously scheduled for demolition by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners. Click here for a rendering of the renovation project.

At the end of December, the Orrville Design Review Board reversed its decision regarding a proposed CVS Pharmacy, which means that despite a number of concessions, the buildings previously targeted for demolition are likely to come down – including the Orr Theatre. According to the Daily Record, the developer balked at using existing buildings, using phrases all too familiar to preservation interests – “The building needs a lot of work. I'm not saying it's going to fall down but it does need a lot of work…It's very, very, very expensive."

Photo: Cleveland Trust Tower - WindowsLiveLocal

The time is rapidly approaching for Statehood Day 2008.

You are strongly invited to join Ohioans in the Atrium of the historic Ohio Statehouse in downtown Columbus on Thursday, March 5 in advocating for  issues important to preserving our state’s history. Join us at the Statehouse Atrium on Statehood Day from 10 am – 4 pm for special guest remarks, a luncheon and meetings with state legislators. Governor Ted Strickland has also been invited to speak.

Please visit the Statehood Day webpage for more information by clicking here.

Statehood Day activities were established in 2006 as an annual gathering of Ohioans who represent history and heritage interests from communities throughout the state. History organizations including the Ohio Historical Society, Heritage Ohio, the Ohio Archaeological Council, the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums (OAHSM), the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board (OHRAB), Preservation Ohio, the Society of Ohio Archivists and the Ohio Genealogical Society have all been major stakeholders in Statehood Day. Together, the collective voices of Ohio’s historical societies, preservation groups, archaeological organizations, downtown Main Street centers, archival institutions and genealogical societies are united.

For more details on Statehood Day, including the latest list of legislative priorities to be presented, contact Preservation Ohio at 614-437-8393, or e-mail Executive Director Thomas Palmer at: tpalmer@preservationohio.org. To RSVP for Statehood Day and to reserve your place, please contact Todd Kleismit, the Ohio Historical Society’s director of government relations, at tkleismit@ohiohistory.org or at (614) 297-2355 no later than Feb. 25.

Ohio's history needs your voice. Please come and help us make the case that History Works! for Ohio.

The University of Dayton has begun work on the demolition of NCR Building 26 (click here), a site with a unique and powerful connection to the Allied cause during World War II. There, in the middle of Ohio, a codebreaking machine was developed that broke Nazi ciphers and expedited the end of the war.

Despite efforts from a wide range of supporters, including Congressman Michael Turner and Preservation Dayton, the University is nevertheless proceeding with demolition. Key in that decision was a finding by the Ohio Historic Preservation Office that the building would not qualify for the National Register of Historic Places due to extensive and incompatible alterations in the intervening years. A letter from the OHPO, however, as well as from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and others, encouraged preservation of the landmark, stating that the importance of the building to national history outweighed the possible lack of remaining architectural features.

Ironically, a university based that claims to be dedicated to honoring that history will instead be depriving its students and others from experiencing it first-hand, and instead relegating it to an “interactive display” elsewhere in Dayton. Click here for various comments on this loss, and here for the official University of Dayton explanation.

Pictures from the demolition are included in the Feature Box on the left, as long as they remain in the Clipmarks loop.

Photo: Enigma machine, code machine used by German forces during World War II - tim_flickr/Creative Commons License

During 2007, an important change took place in the way that people interface in community online. The new leader in such sites, particularly for young adults through thirty-somethings, is Facebook. Facebook is a platform with almost 60 million current subscribers, the fastest-growing sector of which are users are aged 25 and older.

Recently, Facebook opened up the possibility for organizations to create their own "Facebook Pages." More powerful than Facebook's previous "Group" pages, these new sites can include a wide variety of applications developed by users. In late December, Preservation Ohio became the first historic preservation organization in the country to launch its own Facebook Page.

Registered visitors to our site can already do the following:

* Look at upcoming events, and receive notices from Preservation Ohio about new events;
* Read excerpts from stories about preservation and revitalization from across Ohio, as well as national stories of note;
* View the latest photos from the Ohio Architecture Pool on Flickr;
* View a video which features an exterior and interior tour of the endangered Seneca County Courthouse;
* Read the last three stories posted on MyHometownOhio;
* View photo albums posted by Preservation Ohio;
* Receive advocacy alerts, activity and event notices, news, and more.

To access a scaled-down version of the site, click here. If you are registered on Facebook, you can become a "fan" of Preservation Ohio, which gives you access to the entire site. And - its all free!

Coming soon -- we will be creating our own Facebook application, which will create a single interface between all Preservation Ohio websites.