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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.

Top Opportunity Nominations are due by May 21, 2010.

Here is an opportunity for YOU to become involved in documenting Ohio’s Modern Architecture  –before the gems of tomorrow slip away. Take the survey with a click here

Tipp City accepts a Best Promotion Award for "Windows on Tippecanoe"

Heritage Ohio is now accepting nominations for their 2010 Annual Preservation and Revitalization Awards.  Nine award categories celebrate the best in revitalization and preservation activities in Ohio.  The deadline in May 3, 2010 and the Awards Luncheon will take place at Heritage Ohio’s Annual Preservation and Revitalization Conference June 17, 2010 in Athens, Ohio. Click Here for awards nomination form.

A few things I learned yesterday:

1)      As of April 22, 2010 any renovation or painting to a house built before 1978 will require that hired contractors must be certified to deal with lead-based paint. http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation.htm

2)      I had seen Energy Star ratings on appliances in the store but didn’t fully understand the scope of the Energy Star program, visit http://www.energystar.gov/

3)       There are Energy Efficiency Block Grants through DOE which perhaps have been focused towards industry- but could be used for larger commercial buildings (theaters come to mind) http://www.eecbg.energy.gov/grantalloc.html

4)      A database to be researching before starting any building improvement or rehabilitation project shows a multitude of programs being offered in Ohio http://www.dsireusa.org/

5)      I think a lot of us talk about embodied energy- but remember we have access to a calculator—share this tool with the uninitiated.   http://thegreenestbuilding.org

Keep spreading the word- the greenest building is the one already built!

Visit their web site at:

http://nps.gov/history/hdp/jobs/summer.htm