As National Preservation Month winds to a close, we take a moment to share with you some great pictures for a recent trip to the historic central Ohio city of Mount Vernon. Included are shots of Public Square, the Woodward Opera House, East Gambier Street houses, and three views of nearby Kenyon College.

For our subscribers, click here or here to view the slideshow.

Many Ohioans have experienced the phenomenon of retail lifestyle centers. Cleveland’s Crocker Park, Toledo’s Levis Commons, “The Greene” near Dayton, and the gigantic Easton in Columbus are among those centers that feature a combination of retail, residential and office space in a centralized setting.

This blog has previously looked at lifestyle centers, particularly as they can be described as traditional downtowns built from scratch in the middle of vacant land, each of which draws substantial shopping and office traffic from communities whose own downtowns experience economic decline. As such, they tend to be “poster children” for the downside of urban sprawl.

Traditional Ohio downtowns differ from these centers in at least one key aspect - unified ownership. Instead of corralling the numerous levels of interests represented in downtown, including individual property owners, merchants, service providers, restaurateurs, etc. -- lifestyle centers can easily set uniform hours and engage in cooperative promotion through lease restrictions.

One Ohio community is currently seeking to change that paradigm.  Valley Ventures, a unique non-profit economic development organization working to secure investment in one Ohio county and three counties in West Virginia, has set out to duplicate the lifestyle center approach in downtown Steubenville. Their plan is straight-forward … to concentrate entrepreneur-focused investment in a 12-block target area.  With a target of generating 30 to 40 new businesses in the next 5 years, the organization has had some limited initial success with the planned opening of 6 new ventures this summer.  The goals include an emphasis on mixed-use development. Click here for local newspaper and here for TV coverage, including video.

For an interesting look at historic commercial buildings available for purchase or lease in downtown Steubenville, click here.

Photo: Downtown Steubenville - OZinOH/Creative Commons License

Preservation Ohio will be making an official announcement of the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites at the end of the month. The future of some properties is so tenuous, however, that a quicker unveiling of a particular listing makes real sense.

In this light, on Thursday, May 21 we took the occasion to visit Dayton as part of our series of trips across the state in honor of National Preservation Month.  There we joined members of Preservation Dayton, the Five Oaks Neighborhood Association, the Friends of Julienne and other interested citizens for a press conference in front of the former Julienne High School.  The school building, located at 325 Homewood Avenue in Dayton, is a massive educational facility constructed in 1927 connected adjacent to a convent.  Used as a Catholic girls school for many decades, these buildings are now owned by Dayton Public Schools.

Dayton Public Schools are undergoing a large rebuilding program in conjunction with the Ohio School Facilities Commission, and have announced plans to replace Julienne with a small facility on the same site.  Unlike what has occurred in other metro areas, however, including Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, almost no period educational buildings are being reused in Dayton.  As a result, much of the history of the community, an outstanding opportunity to save taxpayer funds, and the ability to invest in buildings with longer potential lifespans have been lost.

Julienne represents an opportunity for Dayton Public Schools to make a positive statement for neighborhood stability, history and the educational needs of local students.  If the present building represents more space than is needed, opportunities exist for combining uses to secure funding for renovation.  If a new school is constructed elsewhere on the expansive grounds (over 12 acres, as can be seen in the photo to the right), the buildings represent an extraordinary resource for adaptive reuse - and several developers have already expressed interest in such a project.  The complex is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Preservation Ohio was pleased to announce the inclusion of Julienne on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites at the event, which also included a review of efforts to preserve the school (including an unsuccessful attempt at obtaining local landmark designation), a discussion of available options, and a statement by the Friends of Julienne alumni group.  An interior tour of the school was conducted after the press conference.

Click here for coverage of the announcement in the Dayton Daily News.  A slideshow of the press conference and photos taken during the post-conference tour is featured below (for our subscribers, this slideshow is available here).



Photo: Former Julienne High School, Dayton - Windows Live Local; All other photos are Preservation Ohio File Photos

Working in historic preservation tends to parallel “real life” - May and September are two of the busiest months of the year, packing in conferences, workshops, tours, and other opportunities to become engaged in preserving Ohio’s past. As May is also National Preservation Month, there is typically an added “boost” to this month’s event schedule.

Staff and Board members of Preservation Ohio have been incredibly busy over the last 20 days; many of those trips and events have been profiled in previous posts - and the rest of the month provides little change to that schedule. In less than two weeks we have hosted two live blogs, traveled for talks in Mansfield and Hamilton, conducted easement monitoring, and joined the Columbus Landmarks Foundation for site visits to two of the properties on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites.  Later this week we travel again to Southwest Ohio to join with preservation-minded individuals and groups in two additional Ohio communities - Dayton and Yellow Springs.

This past Monday, we also enjoyed a treat -- lunch with two staff members from Heritage Ohio, Ohio’s other statewide preservation organization. This was the first time we have joined our friends there for a meal, and the experience was a pleasure.

We are pleased to share with you some views of our trip to Hamilton on Saturday, May 16, where we were fortunate to join with participants in the Butler County Preservation Roundtable. This annual event brings together representatives from the county’s numerous historical societies and local preservation organizations, each of whom provide reports on recent activities. Preservation Ohio gave a presentation on statewide preservation issues and opportunities.

Clockwise from the top left, these photos represent:

1.  Participants in the roundtable joined in the historic Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in downtown Hamilton.

2.  Each organization spoke in turn concerning recent preservation-related activities.

3.  After the event, Preservation Ohio conducted in-person monitoring of its historic conservation easements in Hamilton, which protect the historic integrity of two early 19th century brick residences.

4.  The Anthony Wayne Hotel, which Preservation Ohio acquired in the late 1990s and marketed to a preservation-friendly developer. This property is now a highly successful senior living facility.

5.  The Mehrum-Lindley Block in downtown Hamilton was retained on the 2009 List of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites. After the Roundtable, we walked the short two blocks to the site with nominator, Miami University student Nathaniel Kaelin, to take a closer look at the structure, which continues to have an uncertain future.

6.  Preservation Ohio Executive Director Thomas Palmer detailed the work of Preservation Ohio across the state.


Photos: All Preservation Ohio File Photos

Here are a few photos taken this week of the ongoing renovation project at the Morrow County Courthouse in Mount Gilead.

At a time when one prominent Ohio county building is facing a most uncertain future, other counties are investing in their landmark courthouses.  In the case of Morrow County, the original portion of the structure was completed in 1851, making it one of the oldest in continuous operation in the state.

The renovation project is providing much needed room for court facilities and a new law library.  Attention is being paid to historic interior detailing in the original courthouse building.  This is very much a work in progress, however these images show the quality of the work which is being accomplished.

Congratulations to the Morrow County Commissioners for moving forward with this project!


Photos: Morrow County Courthouse exterior - Preservation Ohio File Photo; Interior renovation photos: Special to Preservation Ohio

Over the last few weeks, the Ohio Association of Historical Societies and Museums’ Local History Blog has begun to feature extensive recaps of the annual regional OAHSM meetings across Ohio.

Started many years ago, these regional OAHSM meetings provide those involved with collecting, preserving and displaying local history with the opportunity to learn from others in the field. Each session typically focuses on a handful of topics relevant to museum and historical society operation, and include a revue of developments on a statewide basis. Each region’s list of topics is typically different, however, and just as conference goers can be at a dilemma when having to choose between concurrent sessions of interest, an area of particular interest to one group might be discussed in a different OAHSM region.

Through the new recapping posts, however, much of this dilemma is done away with - and online visitors can now access insights into each of the regional discussions and presentations. It’s an absolutely fantastic idea. Recent topics profiled in these recaps include strategic planning and community engagement, using technology for communications and public relations, overcoming misconceptions, specific project overviews, and much, much more. Local preservation and downtown revitalization organizations will find much useful information in these narratives.

Each of these recaps can be easily located by using the Ohio Preservation News Reader on MyHometownOhio - just click here, then on “Ohio History and Museum News,” and then on “Ohio Association of Historical Societies & Museums: Local History Blog.”

Photo: OASHM Local Blog screenshot

Over the next several weeks, Preservation Ohio goes "On the Road" to visit many corners of Ohio. Some of our visits will coincide with the release of the 2009 List of Ohio's Most Endangered Historic Sites; in others, we will be talking about issues relating to statewide preservation issues, financial incentives for older properties, and downtown & neighborhood revitalization.

Here's a quick look at some of our upcoming trips:

May 13 - Mansfield - Downtown Property Owners Conference

May 16 - Hamilton - Butler County Preservation Roundtable

May 18 - Columbus - Announcement of two properties on the 2009 List of Ohio's Most Endangered Historic Sites.

May 21 - Springfield, Dayton and Yellow Springs - Additional Most Endangered announcement visits.

July 31/August 1 - New Philadelphia - THAT Old House Preservation & Restoration Workshop

Several more trips are being planned. In each community, we plan to chronicle stories of communities coming together to recognize and work for the future of their historic resources. Stay tuned to this site, MyHometownOhio and the Ohio Preservation Network for photos, video and more.