The Columbus Landmarks Foundation is holding their 2008 Annual Design and Preservation Awards Reception and Program on November 6, and you are cordially invited to attend.
Landmarks is the leading voice for historic preservation and quality urban design in Columbus, and as such believes that outstanding commitment to those principles deserves public recognition. This year’s awards event will take place in the Broad Street Presbyterian Church, home to some 28 newly-restored panels of stained glass created by Tiffany Studios. The program will feature a talk on “Building Communities Through Preservation” given by Cleveland Restoration Society Executive Director Kathleen Crowther.
As in year past, these awards will include the coveted James B. Recchie Design Award. This year’s project finalists include the Columbus FireFighters Hall (former T&OC Depot on East Broad Street), Broad Street United Methodist Church, the LEED House, Seneca Apartments and various buildings renovated by Community Properties.
Its a great opportunity to meet and greet other Central Ohioans interested in preservation and design, and to support the important work of Landmarks. For information about the reception and program, click here. To view the five Recchie Award finalists, click here.
Its not new news from Tiffin that we share this morning, but rather we have the opportunity to bring our readers some visual confirmation of the optimism emanating recently from northwest Ohio. The Toledo Blade ran a story on Sunday concerning the most recent developments concerning the courthouse (see link to “Persistent preservationists refuse to lose Seneca County courthouse” to the right)… and included the video below posted on the Blade’s YouTube channel.
For our subscribers, click here to access the YouTube video directly.
For those involved in seeking a future for Ohio’s historic resources on a state level, it’s a known fact… but for others it can be a surprise when they discover that Ohio is the only state in the country with two staffed statewide preservation organizations.
A “statewide” preservation organization refers to a non-profit corporation involved in education, partnership and advocacy for historic resources within the geographical boundaries of a particular state. Its mission, scope of work and membership base are therefore broadly defined, and its governing board typically comes from both urban and rural areas.
At the given moment, there are approximately such 45 statewide historic preservation organizations operating in the United States, given that definition. One of the states that has long been without a statewide, Nebraksa, is gaining one this year.
The Ohio Preservation Alliance, Inc., now known as Preservation Ohio, was established in 1982. Three of the initial members of its Board of Trustees are current Ohio Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, current Preservation Ohio Board Vice-Chair and Cincinnati preservation architect Bruce Goetzman, and Franklin Conway, consultant and current point person for the renovation plan for the endangered Seneca County Courthouse. Over the last 26 years, Preservation Ohio has held dozens of conferences and workshops, has been involved in hands-on preservation efforts in many Ohio communities, has developed Ohio’s largest statewide preservation easement program, and was among the first organizations in the state to promote a smart/sustainable growth discussion with the early 1990s’ “Managing Change” conferences.
Heritage Ohio was established in stages beginning in 1998. Its genesis was in the non-profit organization known as Downtown Ohio, Inc., which then served as Ohio’s statewide “Main Street” coordinating body. Ohio is one of only a handful of states in the country (Nebraska, Colorado and Connecticut are among the others) where the state Main Street/downtown revitalization effort is not housed in state government, but rather in an independent, non-profit corporation. The National Trust for Historic Preservation took the initiative in 1998 to create a new, larger organization that would be involved in both downtown and traditional statewide preservation organization activities.
The result is therefore what we have today -- two statewides, two Boards of Trustees, two offices, two staffs, overlapping membership, and repeated requests to the same groups and individuals for support. There's nothing else like it in the entire country.
Perhaps its not surprising that on a national basis, the unique nature of Ohio preservation is well-known. Some years back, the story is told that a national preservation official was listening to a presentation on a particular topic, and some unusual and unexpected fact was mentioned… something with a relationship to the Buckeye State. “Don’t worry about it,” an assistant whispered to his superior, “..its just an Ohio thing!”
MyHometownOhio has recently added two new RSS feeds to its slate of feeds bringing you continually updated entries from leading blogs in preservation, revitalization, smart growth and heritage tourism.
Greater Ohio, the state’s leading advocate and focal point for smart and sustainable growth, has launched a new blog. Its first entry deals with the important issue of regionalism in fashioning sustainable economic development strategies. The site also includes “Smart Growth Tidbits” -- a look at recently-released research in the field, as well as a selection of recent smart growth news. The feed is located below and to the left; to access the blog itself, click on the section title. The Greater Ohio Blog promises to be an important resource for news and information in the field.
Individual homeowners involved in renovation or restoration projects typically have a raft of stories to share. For that purpose, and to connect these owners together to share information, tools and techniques, the venerable Old House Journal recently launched the “Old House Journal Forum.” A feed of the latest forum entries is now available on this site; its current set of entries includes everything from researching house histories to restoring water faucets.
This week, the Ohio Department of Development announced that 48 projects have been approved for the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Together, these projects represent some $77 million in tax credits that will, in turn, leverage $464 million in investments in historic buildings across the state, according to this Press Release from the Department.
Interestingly, the projects funded for 2010 are located across the state, although many are located in Cincinnati and Columbus, however all of the 2011 recipients are either from Cleveland or Cincinnati. Only 6 of the 48 credit packages are going to projects in communities with less than 50,000 population:
• Carlisle Building (Chillicothe, Ross County) • The Golden Lamb (Lebanon, Warren County) • Lima Trust Building (Lima, Allen County) • Marion County Telephone Company Building (Marion, Marion County) • The Clarendon Hotel (St. Clairsville, Belmont County) • Seneca County Courthouse (Tiffin, Seneca County)
It does bear stating that the vast majority of applications submitted for the initial funding cycle were in larger communities, and all of these newly-funded applications are from that group.
Also included are the Terminal Tower in Cleveland, several properties in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and the former Elyria High School.
It would be impossible overestimate the importance of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit in helping Ohio communities experience the full impact of preservation-based development … a combination of economic revitalization and improved quality of life. Over $40 million remains in as-yet unallocated tax credits; no new application cycle has been announced to date.
Some years ago, Preservation Ohio came to the rescue of a small congregation in Genoa (Ottawa County) that was desperately seeking a future for its historic church building. Realizing that due to declining attendance their days were numbered, church members had been informed by local realtors that selling their building for demolition was their only realistic option.
Preservation Ohio accepted donation of the building, and then set out to find a new, preservation-minded owner. Such a purchaser was located, and the Genoa Baptist Church was sold subject to a preservation easement -- the first such easement in the organization's history.
Today, over four years later, continuing work on the church shows both outstanding attention to historic detail and an improvement in the building's condition - as evidenced by the above photo, taken this September.
The Preservation Ohio Preservation Easement Program currently protects properties in Ottawa, Washington, Clark, Montgomery and Butler Counties. For more information on the program, and how it can benefit both individual property owners and communities, click here.
Its always a good idea to read the rules before starting any project. With that in mind, here are links to some “rules of thumb” for how to do things in a generally preservation-sensitive way.
“Dr. Luce’s Basic Prescriptions for Preservation” is a list of some 19 core maxims on proceeding on any preservation task -- from renovating your house to revitalizing a community. These include simple directives such as “ Don't sandblast anything--ever!” to more involved statements such as “Keep as much as possible of your city's plan - it is as important as its buildings. Respect the size, scale, and relationship of existing buildings. When designing a streetscape, start with what is already in your town, not something from another city or Main Street in Disneyland.” Dr. Ray Luce, author of these prescriptions, was formerly the Ohio State Historic Preservation Officer.
One well-known list was issued some years back by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and concentrates on “10 Ways to Support Historic Preservation.” This page on the website of the Historic Preservation of Arkansas profiles these rules. These maxims are more general, and speak to everyday ways to support local, state and national preservation efforts.
Then there are the granddaddies of all preservation rules, the Secretary of Interior Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, including versions for Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration and Reconstruction. Click here for the new website of the National Park Service which lays out these standards and accompanying guidelines in an easy-to-read and follow format.
The Columbus Landmarks Foundation is holding their 2008 Annual Design and Preservation Awards Reception and Program on November 6, and you are cordially invited to attend.
For those involved in seeking a future for Ohio’s historic resources on a state level, it’s a known fact… but for others it can be a surprise when they discover that Ohio is the only state in the country with two staffed statewide preservation organizations.
This week, the Ohio Department of Development announced that 48 projects have been approved for the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit in fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Together, these projects represent some $77 million in tax credits that will, in turn, leverage $464 million in investments in historic buildings across the state, according to 
Some years ago, Preservation Ohio came to the rescue of a small congregation in Genoa (Ottawa County) that was desperately seeking a future for its historic church building. Realizing that due to declining attendance their days were numbered, church members had been informed by local realtors that selling their building for demolition was their only realistic option.
Its always a good idea to read the rules before starting any project. With that in mind, here are links to some “rules of thumb” for how to do things in a generally preservation-sensitive way.
At Ohio’s Preservation Conference, November 6-7 at the Ohio Historical Center, Columbus, you can: