Ohio's leading developers camp out overnight for State Historic Tax Credit
The much anticipated Historic Tax Credit Program was officially launched July 2nd. Sixty-four applicants were accepted to join the inaugural program. As space in the program was limited, many of the applicants waited outside all night, in line around the Ohio Historical Society.
The importance of the program was highlighted, as many of the all night campers were many of Ohio's leading developers, including Don Logwell and Steve Coon.
Heritage Ohio helped provide entertainment to the overnight campers by bringing beer and pizza to the long line of historic tax credit applicants.
Who knew historic preservation could be so rock n'roll?
The tax credit application and instructions are available from the Ohio Department of Development. The two-year pilot allows for up to 100 projects per year to receive the credit. For more information, contact Joyce Barrett, Heritage Ohio's Interim Executive Director.
Hear from Ohio's top funding sources at one of Heritage Ohio's most popluar trainings.
The training will be held August 15, 2007 in Bellefontaine at the Presbyterian Church,
117 North Main Street between 9am and 4pm.
Senecca County Courthouse in Tiffin to be torn down
After several years of debate, the Senecca County Commissioners have decided to tear down their county courthouse located in Tiffin, Ohio.
This news comes in contradiction to architectural findings that the least expensive scenario would be to rehabilitate the courthouse, rather than tear it down and build a new courthouse.
Heritage Ohio staff news
Change is in the air as new staff members join Heritage Ohio and current staff members take on new roles.
The Heritage Ohio Board of Trustees have designated Joyce Barrett as the new Interim Executive Director for Heritage Ohio. Joyce has been with Heritage Ohio since she and her family relocated from Iowa in YEAR. In Iowa, Joyce was the Executive Director of Heritage Ohio's sister organization in that state, the IOWA STATEWIDE NAME. During Joyce's time at Heritage Ohio, she has been instrumental in passing the State Historic Tax Credit, and launching Ohio's Top Preservation Opportunities to name a few projects.
New staff member, Jeff Siegler, is set to join Heritage Ohio this coming August as the Director of Revitalization. In this position, Jeff will work with the Ohio Main Street Program and communities engaging in revitalization work around the state. Jeff himself comes to Heritage Ohio from the Main Street world, as the Executive Director of a local program, Main Street Lancaster.
Earlier in the year, Curtis Burris was promoted to Director of Operations from his previous position as Office Manager.
As mentioned in other enewsletters, Frank Quinn rejoined Heritage Ohio as a staff member, after spending time in Michigan and Indiana working the both preservation and revitalization.
Heritage Ohio is please to report that former Director of Revitalization, Pauline Eaton has successfully relocated to Orlando, Florida with her family and is still missed by her friends in Ohio!
Additional Certified Local Government funds available
The final allocation of federal fiscal year 2007 Historic Preservation Funds to the State of Ohio has recently been certified. It resulted in an allocation for the Certified Local Government (CLG) Grant program of $3,127 higher than originally announced.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Office (OHPO) of the Ohio Historical Society is hereby notifying all eligible Certified Local Governments of the opportunity to apply for this amount in total for one new project or the expansion of a currently funded CLG grant project. The 60/40 match requirement is in effect, resulting in a minimum $5,212 project. The proposed project period would be the thirteen-month period August 20, 2007 through September 30, 2008.
The application form, selection criteria, and Ohio Historic Preservation Office priorities established for the initial federal fiscal year 2007 funding round will be applicable. The application form and guidelines are available on our web site at
Applications for this supplemental funding are due at OHPO by 5 p.m. July 13, 2007.
The Grant Selection Committee will meet on August 3, 2007 to review applications, present their recommendations to the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board that same day, and the State Historic Preservation Officer will make the grant award on August 6, 2007.
OHPO staff members are available to assist you in the development of your application and review drafts of text and/or budget, up to one week prior to the official submission deadline. All applicants are encouraged to submit a draft of their application for review.
For additional information, please contact Judy Krasniewski at (614) 298-2000 or by email above.
Glendale Steps marker unveiled
from the July 2, 2007 Akron Beacon Journal
It was a dream come true for Ramona Smith.
The City of Akron, the Ohio Historical Society and Progress Through Preservation today unveiled a historical marker at the landmark Glendale Steps just west of downtown Akron.
Smith, the former long-time head of a grass-roots Akron preservation group, had organized cleanups of the Glendale Steps, starting in 1985.
``I'm so happy,'' she said. ``We never thought we'd ever get to this point.... It's just great. It really is a dream come true.''
The little-known steps are attractive and a significant link to Akron's past, she said.
The 242 sandstone steps were created in 1936-1937 by stone craftsmen under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, a program that helped get Akron back on its fee economically.
The cost of the project: $22,000.
The steps were designed to enable Akron residents to descend 200 feet from the southern end of Walnut Street to a city park along Glendale Avenue.
Gertrude Seiberling, the wife of Goodyear's founder and the matriarch of Stan Hywet, had in 1928 first suggested the development of a ``beauty spot'' in industrialized Akron.
She was president of the Akron Garden Club, and the club planted trees and flowers along Glendale Avenue. But plans for the public park never materialized because of the city of Akron's own financial problems during the Great Depression.
What is left is ``a gift from another time, another era,'' said Steve France, the cuirrent president of Progress Through Preservation.
In the early years, the preservation group typically managed to get 15 to 20 volunteers for cleanups every spring at the Glendale Steps, Smith said.
Her group has provided $10,000 to hire a stone mason to make needed repairs and more repairs are still needed, she said.
Keep Akron Beautiful intends to make the Glendale Steps one of its community garden sites next year, she said.
The marker becomes one of about 1,200 Ohio Historical Society markers around Ohio, said J.D. Britton, manager of the local history office of the state historical society in Columbus.
Those markers can all be viewed at http://www.remarkableohio.org/.
