A company town located just off US33, the main drag boasts a unique collection of buildings that also served as advertisements for the variety of masonry blocks the nearby company could fabricate. Especially intriguing is the Methodist Church, that really serves as a visual catalog for all the different types of brick the company could supply to a building project.

Many of Haydenville’s buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. While this is a great honor, and could possibly pave the way for tax credit incentives on a building rehab, the listing wouldn’t necessarily prevent any of these unique buildings from demolition.

If you didn’t get a chance to look at the town’s unique architecture, here are a couple images from our quick trip there a couple years ago.

With huge chunks of roof and wall sections torn away, demolition became the only viable option.

That was our hope until powerful storms ripped through Williams County less than a week ago.

In a matter of minutes, strong winds tore the roof from the building. Whole sections of wall were destroyed in the process, leaving gaping holes open to the elements. The damage compromised the building’s structural integrity, and the village moved quickly to demolish it.

Although the Edgerton Historical Society had lost its preservation battle for the building, members continued to encourage the village to save as many building artifacts and architectural components as possible.

The passion members showed in their desire to preserve the town hall will help them cope with the sudden loss of their Top Opportunity; but, as Shirley Krill states, “We have lost our greatest treasure in Edgerton.” There are still some forces that even the greatest passion for preservation can’t overcome.

Activity around the building is now focused on efforts to pluck artifacts out of the rubble. Unfortunately, architectural components such as the grand staircase will likely be lost.

Special thanks to Shirley Krill for providing information and images.

A historical view of Edgerton's Town Hall

If there is one word that could most aptly describe residents of Edgerton and how they feel about their town hall, it would be passionate. That’s certainly the sense Joyce and I could feel when we visited the village a couple years ago on a Top Opportunity site visit. The Edgerton Historical Society, headed by Shirley Krill, had led the charge to nominate the Edgerton Town Hall to our annual list of great Ohio preservation opportunities.

Edgerton is a small village in the northwestern corner of Ohio, in Williams County. Perhaps its most recognizable historic landmark is the town hall. Constructed in the mid-1880s as part public meeting space and part performance venue, it’s stood as the heart of the community for generations. Over the years it played host to concerts, plays, elections, civic meetings, class commencements, dances, even basketball games. It was a place of dates and first kisses, a place to find one’s voice when it came to debate on public issues, and it was a place that inspired civic pride throughout the community.

It was a place to celebrate personal accomplishments, large and small, and it was a place where passion—the best type of passion, the passion that moves a community forward—resided. The building had a history with the community. They were intertwined, and after a history measured in centuries, you should not try to separate one from the other for fear of causing great harm to both. But I digress, speaking as a preservationist. Sometimes a building can only be seen as the sum of its board feet of wood and the quantity of its brick. When this happens, the time-worn creak of the pine step does not convey a rich history and bright potential, only the mindful lament of a building past its prime.

We worry when this happens to a building—when it’s judged only as it stands today, and not judged based on its past history or future potential. It can be difficult to look past boarded-up windows, stained plaster, and peeling paint, to see a rehab project worth undertaking. You can destroy a collection of wood and brick much easier, and without regret, than you can destroy a piece of living history, or a promising building project. At its heart, this is why we created the Top Opportunity program. We want the residents of the community to see their community landmark as much more than just the sum of its building components, based on its current condition. We want the residents to remember again (or to learn) what an important role the building played in a community’s history. We want the residents to get excited about the future of their community that includes their community landmark. We name Top Opportunities because we want to help change local attitudes so the thinking shifts from “We can’t save that old building” to “Let’s all work together to save our community landmark.”

So, we found ourselves in Edgerton a couple years ago, doing what we could to help change attitudes and magnify the community voices speaking out in favor of preserving the Edgerton Town Hall.

Tomorrow: An update on the status of the Edgerton Town Hall.

Round 4 Awards: The Last Hurrah?

Tomorrow in Cleveland, Governor Strickland will announce the winning submissions from Round 4 of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program. With 50 applications coming in from 14 cities, the program remains immensely popular. Unfortunately, as it stands now, this could be the last round of state tax credits awarded.

The tax credit that has been touted variously as a smart growth initiative, a job growth stimulus, and a downtown revitalization tool (not to mention a great way to preserve one-of-a-kind historic structures in danger of demolition) faces an uncertain future because no one has been able to answer the “How are we going to pay for the credits?” question. As a late add-on to Strickland’s Job Stimulus Plan, $120 million was set aside a couple years ago to reimburse eligible rehabilitation expenses on construction projects. With tomorrow’s Round 4 announcement, the remaining $24.4 million will be gobbled up quickly by the more than $80 million in credits requested from the applicants. Once that money is spoken for, the program has effectively ended. And it’s a program that, even in a short time, has established an impressive track record. Consider this:

• In Round 3 every dollar of state tax credits has leveraged an additional $7.10 in project investment
• ODOD estimates that $250 million invested by the state in these projects will create 27,775 jobs, costing the state $9,000 per job created (by contrast, the state’s popular Third Frontier program costs the state $20,000 per job created)
• The program continues to expand its geographic scope, positively impacting communities both large and small

Fixing the Credits

Without a ready funding solution like bond funding, used by the Third Frontier program, or amending existing legislation, the tax credit program’s future looks dim. This is unfortunate, considering how ODOD’s report touts the program’s benefit as a revitalization catalyst. Perhaps now the best action any Ohioan can take is to read a copy of the program’s 2009 Annual Report (check it out here) and then contact your state representative & senator and ask them to find a solution to sustain a program with significant benefits on so many levels.

Coming tomorrow: the announcement from Governor Strickland and ODOD on Round 4 project awards.

About the images: state tax credits catalyzed efforts to rejuvenate the Fort Piqua Plaza and Capitol Theatre, both long-shuttered eyesores with uncertain futures. The tax credits helped return these community landmarks to productive use.

The cover of the latest issue of Fine Homebuilding

Happy would be a good word to describe how I felt when I grabbed the latest issue of Fine Homebuilding out of my mailbox. Why? Because there on the cover of the April/May issue were the following words: Should Your Old Windows Be Saved? Repairs rival replacements in both cost and efficiency.

Yes! In other words, Fine Homebuilding is letting us know that repairing an old window can be just as smart a strategy as replacing the old window with a new unit. This is especially welcome to see in times when energy efficiency is such a hot topic in remodeling circles. When a respected periodical such as Fine Homebuilding weighs in with the message that it’s not only ok to save those old windows, but that it may be preferable depending on the home’s circumstances, you can bet that contractors take notice. Hopefully, this article translates into more sound, historic wood windows being saved, instead of being carted off to the landfill, to be replaced by inferior units.

• The preservation and continued use of more historic schools in the state
• With 20% tax credit eligibility, school rehabilitation projects would be put on a more competitive footing with new construction projects, demonstrating a much better economic value for the taxpayers in the school district
• School rehabilitation (as opposed to new construction) is a more labor intensive practice, and $1 million spent to rehabilitate schools creates more jobs than $1 million spent to construct new schools
• School rehabilitation demonstrates a school district’s conviction to invest in and maintain its most valuable assets, as opposed to wasting its existing assets by demolishing them
• School rehabilitation shows a school district’s savvy in understanding & teaching its students that green practices extend far beyond placing recycling bins in the school cafeteria (indeed, preserving historic schools demonstrates perhaps the ultimate level of environmental responsibility)  

Accountants Novogradac & Company LLP maintain a web site you can access to keep up-to-date on the latest legislation involving a host of different tax credit incentives that affect historic buildings. You can access their tax credit information here.

A brief fact sheet outlining the need and reasoning behind amending current tax legislation is included here.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on the status of this legislation as we learn more.

A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting beautification programs through the use of flowers, plants, and trees (in addition to other environmental & lifestyle enhancements) while also encouraging community involvement, AIB recently announced its February 28 registration deadline to participate in the 2010 community program.

Participating communities receive a two-day consultation with judges. The judges develop an extensive written evaluation providing feedback on the community’s successful efforts, and suggestions for further initiatives. To date, America in Bloom has assisted more than 170 communities in 38 states to bring out the best in their visual qualities. In some towns, the annual America in Bloom competition has become a way of life, as volunteers look forward to working together on visible improvements.

Contest Chairman Jack Clasen, PhD, summed it up best when he said, “I’m excited about the 2010 program because we have assembled the best team of experienced, professional judges in the history of the program.”

For more information about the program, or to register before the February 28 deadline, go to http://www.americainbloom.org/. Good luck to all of the participating communities, and may the greenest, most beautiful communities win!

Special Conference Note:
We’re also pleased to let you know that Rick Webb of Logan, Ohio will be presenting “America in Bloom: Planting Pride in your community” at the Heritage Ohio conference in Athens this June. Rick will share the process of becoming an America in Bloom community, touching on AIB’s impact in cities throughout the country & how the America in Bloom program and Heritage Ohio work together to enhance those cities. Stay tuned to our web site and blog for further conference updates!

Simple, important goals inform the substance of OHPO’s preservation plan. How do we, as leadership of Ohio’s statewide preservation movement, accomplish goals such as: paying for preservation, educating the public, better identifying Ohio’s historic resources, and better promoting historic preservation to the public? With each goal, OHPO outlines both the difficult challenges we face and the beneficial opportunities that can help us achieve these goals.

As a staff member of Heritage Ohio, I’m proud to see how we accomplish, with our partners such as OHPO, important preservation goals everyday: the enactment and continued advocacy to continue the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit; bringing the Commission Assistance & Mentoring Program back to Ohio to provide design review training; demonstrating the connection between historic preservation and economic development using proven revitalization programs such as the Main Street Approach; and providing visibility in all parts of Ohio through our annual conference, Main Street trainings, tax credit workshops, Top Opportunities program, and historic theater seminars & networkings.

We hope you will take a look at the preservation plan, figure out where you fit in as part of the solution, and then contact the Ohio Historic Preservation Office (or, for that matter, us) with your offer to help. After all, a plan is only as good as the people who commit to implementing it. Only when the important goals become reality do we see the potential of the plan’s value realized.

Having seen the exterior of the Sorg Mansion, I couldn’t wait to get inside to see whether it had been a lucky survivor as much as the outside. I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed.

While the inside had been long ago broken up into multiple rental units, the building somehow had managed to maintain nearly all of its interior ornament. I spent the next hour engaged in double-takes, multiple “now how the hell…?” mutters, jaw drops, and eye pops in continued wonder at just how this building’s decorative interior had survived so marvelously intact.

As with yesterday’s post, I’ve included some images from that day, interior highlights this time, so you can get a sense of this home’s wonderful ornament.

Sorg Mansion - carved mantel

By the 1880s there were many decorative details that could be mass produced on a lathe or molding planer (or just using simple sawblade trickery) that people would think was hand-carved. Not the case with the mantel surround pictured above. Every detail in this image was painstakingly hand-carved, the work of a master artisan. I really like the whimsical touch the carved face gives the piece. What a wonderful piece of artwork!

Sorg Mansion - decorative plaster

The first floor spaces show off  an impressive array of decorative plaster, from ceiling medallions commanding attention in the center of the room, to ornate cornices bridging the walls and ceilings, to applied patterns softening the sharp corners. The image above shows the corner of one large room. The object in the upper right of this image is a three-bulb light fixture, retrofitted into the design sometime after the house was constructed. It’s a reminder that the building, while visibly capturing the 1880s in its appearance, has actually been constantly changing since the day it was constructed. Sometimes these changes complement the appearance of a structure, and sometimes these changes do great damage to a structure.

Sorg Mansion - decorative tilework

According to the owner, the tile shown above (from the most elaborate of the home’s bathrooms, and perhaps accurately considered the master bathroom) is a European import. The irridescent glaze and molded shell & ribbon design provide visual and textual interest. Everything about the house – the rough texture of the stonework, the creak of the wood floors, the faint smell of smoke still evident in the now-unused fireplaces, the stunning patterns of sunlight showing through the stained glass – engaged my senses, providing a richness of experience that is all too rare with many historic buildings. I’m not sure how to adequately describe it except to say that this home had (and has) a magnetic personality. I was continually reminded of that with each new room we walked into and investigated.

Sorg Mansion - stained glass

Having done a little stained glass work, I know that just cutting and leading the border in the piece above would have kept me busy for hours!

In so many homes, the stained glass becomes an easy target for vandals, either to break, or to steal and sell to architectural salvage businesses. Thankfully, the Sorg Mansion has avoided the same fate of the loss of its character-defining ornament.

Sorg Mansion - recessed fireplace with paneled surround

Here’s another of the first floor fireplaces/mantels with marble firebox surround, and paneled/molded recessed mantel. A variety of wood species including walnut, cherry, oak, and maple were used in the rooms to give each one its own unique decorative identity. Note another retrofit: the electrical outlet installed in the base molding adjacent to the tile hearth.

I hope you enjoyed this “tour” of what is, without a doubt, Middletown’s grandest residence, the Sorg Mansion. If you ever get the chance to view this historic treasure, don’t pass it up…you won’t be disappointed!

As part of its Top Opportunities program, Heritage Ohio has submitted a brief report outlining recommendations to facilitate the continued preservation and use of this building. As we learn of updates, we will keep you informed. And, if you know of important Ohio buildings worthy of preservation as potential “Top Opportunities” let us know. We’ll announce the next class of Top Opportunities at our conference in Athens next year.

Heritage Ohio created the Top Opportunities program in 2007 to raise awareness about historically significant properties for interested investors, developers, and funders. It is Heritage Ohio’s aim to demonstrate the economic benefits of historic preservation through the restoration and reuse of these sites.