August has brought sad news to advocates of historic preservation in the Buckeye State with the passing of both Congressman John F. Seiberling and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Congresswoman Tubbs Jones was a long-time champion of preservation and preservation-based community revitalization, and a member of Congress‘ Historic Preservation Caucus.  Her record included the recent sponsorship and passage of the Community Restoration and Rehabilitation Act, legislation which provided the first substantive changes to the Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit since 1978 -- all of which make the credit more useful for renovating historic properties across the country.  We will profile those important changes in our next entry.

Eight-term Congressman John Seiberling from Akron was a lover and advocate of America’s National Parks, as well as the country’s built history.  Seiberling was a 2002 recipient of the Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for a legislative record that included establishment of the Historic Preservation Fund.  This Fund distributes grants each year to hundreds of American communities, leveraging other monies and resulting in substantial preservation successes.

Ohio can be justly proud of these two public servants who not only worked to better Ohio’s quality of life and economic future through historic preservation, but whose work benefited preservation efforts across the entire country.

Here is an interesting tool for historic resource which we have recently discovered…

HistoricMapWorks.com is a compendium of historic maps of locations world-wide that can be accessed online for free, with larger images, prints, etc. available for purchase.  The site features approximately 220 maps of Ohio counties and communities, including full versions of several period county atlases and panoramic maps of several Ohio cities.  Many of these 19th century county atlases feature pages of photographs or drawings of important buildings in larger county communities.  To reach the Ohio section, click on “Browse,” “North America,” and then “Ohio.”  Individual links for county atlases then take you to an overall page, with individual tabs for Directories, Histories, Illustrations, etc..

Photo: Panoramic Map, Downtown Lima, 1892 - Public Domain

We don’t know how we missed this story and photo essay when it was published back in May … but fortunately we caught it while it is still available online.

In May, the New York Times published a feature article about the Columbus Washboard Company, which since 1999 has been housed in a former shoe factory building in historic Logan, Ohio.  The building’s facade features an oversized washboard as a front decorative element -- much like the giant wooden bat that graces the Louisville Slugger building in Kentucky.  Inside, workers assemble the seemingly anachronistic devices which, as the story points out, are being sent to soldiers in Iraq and other conflicts.  Boards are sent in packages which contain soaps, clothespins and other necessities for hand washing clothes.

The pictures in the Times’ photo slideshow convey the strong pride of workmanship that goes into each washboard, using methods not terribly different than those used to supply troops with washboards during World War II.  The former factory building adds to a sense of the past, and to the product itself -- it would be difficult to envision washboards being constructed in a new, modern sterile factory building.

America’s only surviving washboard manufacturer also sells to musicians and the general public, and opens its facilities for free public tours.  The Columbus Washboard Company now also sponsors the annual Washboard Music Festival in Logan.

Click here to visit the company online.  For a taste of washboard music, below is a vintage 1928 video of Eddie Thomas and Carl Scott playing “My Ohio Home” -- for our subscribers, the video can be found by clicking here.

Here is a sampling of some preservation-related “good news” that has come to our attention recently.  At the end of what has otherwise been a difficult Summer for preservation in Ohio, its nice to observe that many local efforts are seeing successful outcomes.

At The Ohio State University, the multi-year funding drive to pay for the $108.7 million dollar renovation and expansion of the campus’ main library has successfully concluded, thanks to a $4 million dollar gift from the OSU Athletics Department.  The oldest section of the William Oxley Thompson Memorial Library was constructed in 1913, and contains an extraordinary large reading room that is being restored after spending multiple decades as two different spaces.  For some great photos of the renovation, including photos of the reading room, click here for a recent article in the Columbus Dispatch -- and then look for  “Web Extra” on the bottom right.

The Fairborn Performing Arts and Cultural Center is moving ahead with a project to renovate the 1948 Fairborn Theatre, an Art Moderne gem located on State Route 444 (Broad Street).  The building is constructed of tan brick with a front undulating wall and large front tower.  The FPACC website details their vision and includes photos of the theatre; this is a great photo of the façade on Flickr.

There is recent indication that a historic Catholic church building in Junction, Ohio (Paulding County) will be preserved in its present state, according to legal counsel for the Diocese of Toledo.  After some initial legal action was taken, attorneys for the Diocese and local parishioners have been in dialogue concerning the future of the local landmark, built in 1907.  At one point in the ongoing saga, 25 congregation members actually blocked doors to prevent removal of the building’s stained glass windows.

There is potential good news across the state, as the Ohio Department of Development has announced that applications in the “queue” for the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit’s first round will be reviewed by September.  This will also be the first occasion when new review criteria are used, including benefit to low to moderate income Ohioans and geographical distribution.  The Department plans to announce guidelines for the recently authorized 2009 and 2010 tax credit application rounds by October.  All of this comes as welcome news for those applicants who have been waiting for approval since July of 2007.

Photo:  Thompson Library renovation, OSU -- tommrkr/Creative Commons License

According to a release received yesterday from the Columbus Landmarks Foundation, the organization is seeking nominations for its 2008 Design and Preservation Awards.  This year’s edition is expanding awards categories, including not only the coveted James B. Recchie Design Award for a “building, parkland, public interior or landscape that has made a significant impact within the past five years,” but also awards for Outstanding Person, Outstanding Group, Outstanding Patron, Outstanding Student and an “Open Category” for exceptional design.

Each of these awards is designed to reflect the Foundation’s twin goals of promoting both historic preservation and quality new urban design.  To access an online nomination form (with nominations due by September 2), click here.

Photo: I670 Cap, High Street, Columbus, Winner of the 2005 James B. Recchie Design Award -- Payton Chung/Creative Commons License

With budgets of state and local government cut across the country, several historic preservation and preservation-based downtown revitalization programs have been taking a hit over the last several months.  These cuts come at the same time that federal programs such as Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America, as well as the funding of State Historic Preservation Offices, fared relatively well in the most recent federal appropriations process.

In Illinois, for instance, Governor Rod Blagojevich recently cut staff funding for the state’s 60 historic sites, leaving the system reeling with questions on how to move forward.  A similar story is occurring in New Jersey, where the Garden State Preservation Trust, which provides funding for open space conservation and grants for historic building renovation, is completely out of money.  Voters approved a one-year funding stream for the Trust, but that ends on December 31 of this year.

As we know, the Ohio Historical Society joined most other state agencies in absorbing a funding reduction with the 2007 Budget bill from the Ohio General Assembly.  Now, cuts have reached local government, particularly in the City of Columbus.  The city’s Historic Preservation Office, which reviews applications for Certificates of Appropriateness in most of the city’s historic districts, has decreased in size — from five to two!

This office serves as a vitally important piece of the community development process in Ohio’s Capital City.  Such a reduction can only mean increased times for review, which a corresponding increase in the time that investment can result in a finished product.  As this column from German Village’s Interim Executive Director aptly points out, the impact will be immediate and far-reaching.

There are bright spots around the country, however - particularly in the area of historic preservation-related tax credits.  Ohio’s, of course, has recently been extended for two years; in Colorado, legislators recently extended their tax credit for a full ten years!

Photo: German Village houses, Columbus - nodame/Creative Commons License

According to a Press Release from the Ohio Historical Society, 16 Ohio sites have been recommended by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.  The OHSPAB recommendations are then sent to the National Park Service, which makes the official determination of placement on the Register.This Summer’s collection features listings in Southwest Ohio, as properties in Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield and Kings Mills account for 10 of those 16 recommended historic resources.  Included are individual houses, a church, an athletic field house, a former children’s home, a Masonic temple and two historic districts.  Here is a list of the recommended properties:

Barnesville / Belmont County
Friends Boarding School and Ohio Yearly Meetinghouse Historic District
61830 Sandy Ridge Rd.

Canton / Stark County
John and Syd Dobkins House
5120 Plain Center N.E.

Cincinnati / Hamilton County
Cheviot Fieldhouse
3729 Robb Ave.

Cincinnati / Hamilton County
Hyde Park Methodist Episcopal Church
1345 Grace Ave.

Cincinnati / Hamilton County
Nurre-Royston House
4330 Errun Ln.

Cincinnati / Hamilton County
Pinecroft
2336 Kipling Ave.

Cincinnati / Hamilton County
Sedamsville River Road Historic District
2449-2748 River Rd., 309-317 Mt. Hope, and 604 Mt. Echo

Dayton / Montgomery County
Jonah Bull House
2233 Wayne Ave.

Dayton / Montgomery County
Grafton-Rockwood Historic District
roughly bounded by Homewood, Grafton, Five Oaks, and Old Orchard Aves.

Dayton / Montgomery County
Julienne Girls' Catholic School
325 Homewood Ave.

Ironton / Lawrence County
Downtown Ironton Historic District
Portions of Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
Center Sts., Park Ave., Vernon St., and Bobby Bare Blvd.

Kings Mills / Warren County
Ahimaaz King House
1720 E. King Ave.

Lancaster / Fairfield County
Fairfield County Children's Home
1743 E. Main St.

Mount Vernon / Knox County
Richard and Ann Loveridge House
12526 Lower Green Valley Rd.

Springfield / Clark County
Masonic Temple
125 W. High St.

Westerville / Franklin County
Temperance Row Historic District
vicinity of Park, Grove, Walnut and University Sts.

It is believed that Ohio has more properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as contributing resources in National Register Historic Districts, than any other state in the country.  While listing is largely honorary, listing does help to qualify properties for federal and state financial incentives for preservation-based renovation, and does provide some limited protection against demolition by federal agency undertakings.

Photo:  Downtown Ironton -- placesphotographed.com/Used with permission

It was sad news recently in Wooster, with the news that one of Ohio’s last hometown department stores, Freedlander’s, will end operations at the end of 2008.

Department stores were a fixture of small to mid-sized Ohio towns as recently as 30 years ago -- places like Marting’s in Portsmouth; Reed’s in Mansfield, the Carlisle-Allen Company in Painesville -- and Wooster actually had two as recently as 15 years ago.  As this story in the Cleveland Leader points out, the stores’s demise is a product of the changing economy.  Freedlander’s had increasingly become dependent on out-of-town clientele, and was therefore very vunerable in an era of rising fuel prices.

Unfortunately, however, this was not the only loss announced that day.  The buildings that house Freedlander’s are the target of demolition and new construction, the end result being a new, giant “Merchants Block.”  According to a press release issued by Freedlander’s and placed on the Main Street Wooster website (click here), the decision to demolish was based on one local contractor’s assessment that the several period buildings that housed the department store were “patched together” and therefore needed to be removed.  The Main Street Wooster site also features a rendering of the proposed project.

Its too bad that more thought could not be given to preservation in this instance.  Washington Properties, the developer, has a good track record in renovation projects, many of which are in Downtown Wooster.  A very similar project in Kalamazoo, Michigan some years ago resulted in a better win-win for character and history.  There developers also faced a series of buildings that had been combined over the years to create the venerable Gilmore’s Department Store, but included preservation in the way that they treated their rebuilding project.

Its not a proposed project without some gain; reinvestment in any small Ohio downtown is notable and all too rare.  Plans for the new building show a structure which does show sensitivity to the massing and scale of surrounding buildings.  For a city with a rather mixed past with historic preservation, however, its an opportunity to create a strong win that also shows a sensitivity to local history.

Photo:  Downtown Wooster - Seth Gaines/Creative Commons License