2006 Annual Awards
Most Creative Fundraising Effort
Missing Piece Direct Mail Piece-Main Street Elyria
Main Street Elyria began the year with the goal of increasing support by members of the business community and individuals through membership. A series of inventive and unique direct mail pieces aimed at a target audience was created. Recipients found a clear envelope with a card that revealed a puzzle graphic with the slogan “The missing piece is you.” The piece of the puzzle containing the word “you” was cut apart and placed loose in the envelope to draw attention. It worked! The end result was a 19% response and a net gain of $2,380 for Main Street Elyria.
Best Special Event
Urban Nights-Downtown Dayton Partnership
Urban Nights is a free, bi-annual event that showcases the creative side of downtown Dayton. Each spring and fall the Downtown Dayton Partnership presents the event in conjunction with nearly 50 downtown businesses, including art galleries and studios, apartments and condos, restaurants, and retailers. The community is invited to tour urban living spaces and check out a wide variety of artwork on display in traditional and non-traditional gallery space. Restaurants and retailers participate in the event by offering special discounts and incentives for patrons. The Downtown Dayton Partnership previously had two separate events that showcased these downtown amenities-a “Downtown Art Hop” and “Urbana Excursion” loft and condo tour. While the events were successful, combining the two concepts to create Urban Nights helped broaden the event and leverage additional promotion and marketing efforts.
Best Marketing Program
“Got It! In the Neighborhood” Marketing Campaign – Restore Cleveland
The marketing campaign highlights the exciting range of retail and services in Cleveland’s neighborhood retail districts and encourages the community to explore what is available in locally owned stores. The images in the campaign are from stores located in these neighborhoods. Information panels were installed in 15 public information kiosks throughout Cleveland, where 25,000 cars a day pass by. In addition, a website, www.RestoreCleveland.com, was created. The website features merchant directories for many of the neighborhoods and in its first month received 95,000 hits. Merchants received coordinating posters, postcards and bag stuffers to use for in-store events. In addition, some of the Restore Cleveland groups are using oversized versions of the kiosk panels to display in vacant storefronts. The campaign was featured in local newspapers, neighborhood newsletters, MainStreet News and several national publications of LISC.
Award of Merit
Hiram Farmer’s Market-Hiram Village
Many communities have farmer’s markets that are excellent sources of income for local farmers, as well as a means to provide foot traffic and a social gathering component to their downtowns. The Hiram Farmer’s Market however, has a unique twist that this year’s selection committee found intriguing. The marketing for this event is done through a series of cartoons that are created by Mayor Robert Summers. These cartoons have a wonderful hometown flavor and a creative humor that show that not all farmers markets are created equal. Heritage Ohio congratulates Hiram Village and Mayor Summers for the unique way they have brought their community to market!
Best Small Rehabilitation Improvement
5 East William Street – Roger & Bill Koch-Delaware
Roger and Bill Koch, operating as JBK Partners, LLC, took a small 1880s building that had lost its storefront some forty years ago and restored it to full commercial use. Although the total space is less than 1,000 square feet, this building now houses a downtown commercial operation and contributes both street presence and economic vitality to Delaware. The project was a full building restoration. JBK rebuilt the interior and restored the original tin ceiling. On the exterior, the brickwork was repointed and great pains were taken to preserve the ghost sign still visible on the sign band of the building. The total project cost was approximately $80,000. Roger Koch designed the project.
Best Large Rehabilitation Improvement
The Art Academy of Cincinnati
This project is a total rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of two buildings located on Jackson Street in the Over-The-Rhine District. Together the buildings total 120,000 square feet. The $13 million cost was funded by private donations, City of Cincinnati grants, historic tax credits and a real estate swap with the Art Academy’s former sister institution, the Cincinnati Art Museum. The project represents a major investment in Cincinnati’s largest historic district, which has struggled to overcome the legacy of civil unrest in 2001. The arrival of the college, its 200 students, 50 faculty, and $5 million annual operating budget has brought new people and programs with public impact to the area on a daily basis and helped to energize further development, notably undergraduate student housing and the relocation of a theatre company across the street.
The contractor was the Miller-Valentine Group; architects were Design Collective Inc. of Baltimore, with McGill Smith Punshon, Inc. (consultant architect), THP Limited, Inc. (Structural Engineers), Sullebarger Associates of Cincinnati, (historic preservation consultant) and Heapy Engineering LLC of Dayton (mechanical engineers).
Award of Merit
MKC Associates, Inc.-40 West Fourth Street-Mansfield
Originally built as a farmer’s market in 1916, this building served as a forerunner to the modern grocery store well into the 1940’s. In 2004, MKC decided to purchase, relocate and renovate this historic structure in order to be a part of the downtown district, and create a corporate headquarters for the 80-year old architectural, engineering and planning firm. The project was designed to honor the building’s character by preserving the original structure and leaving the interior structure exposed-including the interior brick walls, original glass clerestory and the structure’s steel framing.
Best Residential Rehabilitation
Traucht-Walton Homestead Restoration-Jeff & Emily Walton
Purchasing the home at auction, Jeff & Emily painstakingly restored not only the house, but the barn, granary and other outbuildings. Materials were collected from salvaged homes in the area. Old flooring, trim and common red bricks for repair and replacement, are just a few of the items that were needed. Jeff & Emily were their own general contractors. They hired former shop teachers, local craftsman and even high school boys to help with the initial clean up and demolition of crumbling retaining walls, rotted siding and flooring. Amazingly, no early photographs were available and did not show up until a distant relative of the previous family arrived several years after the project completion. Changes made by the Walton’s were astoundingly accurate. Jeff and Emily gave the Traucht-Walton House the perfect preservation “extreme makeover”!
Best Public Improvement Project
Chilo Park Lock 34 Park Visitors Center-Clermont County Park District
This project involved the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the Chilo Lock and Dam Operations Building #34 into an interpretive visitor center and museum. Additional features include a community room, the ability to hold events and a river walk. Focusing on the cultural and natural history of the Ohio River valley, the center now provides a unique setting and outstanding views of the river for its visitors. The lock had been in operation from 1927 to 1964, and is significant due to its association with the canal system of the Ohio River completed in 1929. It was one of 50 lock and dam structures built to provide a year round, nine-foot navigable depth for a distance of 981 miles.
Award of Merit
Franklinton Entrance & Historic Directories-Franklinton Neighborhood Design Center
Franklinton is the oldest settlement in central Ohio, founded in 1797. A design process was undertaken by a group of citizens to include a series of 6 kiosks with maps showing the locations of 48 historic sites, together with 12 markers pointing out those sites. Because of the importance of the railroad to Franklinton’s history, the design of the kiosks and markers reflects the trusses on the railroad bridges at the eastern entrance to Franklinton. The second element is a sculptural entrance sign, which shows in abstract form the transportation systems, which contributed to the development of historic Franklinton.
Best Main Street Business of the Year
The Brown Jug Restaurant, Delaware – Bill Stroud & Ed Wolf, owners
The Brown Jug Restaurant has been a landmark in downtown Delaware since its opening in 1977. Ed and Bill restored the late-nineteenth century Italianate structure and have since added an outdoor patio on an adjacent lot that has turned the corner into a place of activity and conversation. The restaurant is well known for its name and decor, its fabulous food and its creative marketing ideas. Ed and Bill have donated their time, their money, their restaurant space and their hearts to the Delaware Main Street Program. They and the Brown Jug Restaurant truly are “Main Street on the Corner.”
Main Street Manager of the Year
John Garrett-Main Street Canal Winchester
(as submitted by board chair, Eric Schmidt)
John Garrett is a founder of our program. In 2000, I started my business in Canal Winchester. I was contacted to become a member of the CWDA. At my first meeting, I met John Garrett and listened to his passion and vision about creating a downtown organization that would help preserve our historic downtown and small town feel while the growth was coming our way. The next year I became a board member because his passion was infectious. John approached me a few years back about MainStreet and spent some time with me to explain the benefits of it. We applied to become a MainStreet community, but did not make it the first time. But John and our mayor did not give up. The following year, with a lot of effort, we became a MainStreet community. John started our Farmers Market that now spans 23 weekends and draws hundreds of people to our town. His family also participates. His wife Gaynell is on our board and is chair of our Events Committee. Their entire family are at many of the Farmer’s Market events, which just goes to underscore his entire family’s’ passion for this program and our downtown.
When I started my business, most of downtown was unoccupied. John assured me that this was going to change, and he led the organization and made good on his word. John worked with the board to create our program of work, get our committees running and attended many workshops that he then used to teach and lead us to success. Today it is hard to find a place to rent in downtown. There are shops, restaurants and businesses that were not here 5 years ago. We have a lot to be proud of in Canal Winchester, and John Garrett is a person we are all proud of and have a deep appreciation for what he has done for this community to revitalize our downtown. I highly recommend him for the award of Main Street Manager of the Year.
Spirit of Main Street Award
Linda Shearer-Main Street Delaware
Without Linda’s efforts, there would be no Main Street organization in Delaware and the downtown would be decidedly poorer in spirit and in sense of place. At the end of 2002, Main Street Delaware was in critical condition. It had lost its president due to ill health; it had lost city funding due to budget cuts, county funding was in question, it had lost its director very publicly, and it was losing its office. There were those in the community that said Main Street had lost its way and its purpose and there was talk of dissolving the organization.
Linda took over the presidency at its darkest hour. She held it together with hope, tears, blind faith, dumb luck and hard work. She rebuilt burned bridges and mended fences everywhere she could…and there were many. Linda steered the group through 2003, most of which was without a director and through much of 2004, when the director abruptly quit. Throughout those two years, Linda contributed thousands of hours to Main Street at the expense of her personal life, sleep and her own livelihood, but never at the expense of her sense of humor. As a result of Linda’s efforts, Main Street Delaware gained new offices in the downtown, held the first of several annual board retreats, and its first annual dinner. Linda ultimately held the organization together and brought it to where it is today.
Preservation Hero Award
Jonathan Sandvick
Jonathan is president of Sandvick Architects, Inc. He is chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Cleveland Historic Warehouse District, Sr. Vice Chair of Heritage Ohio, trustee of the Downtown Cleveland Partnership, trustee of the Cleveland Restoration Society, former chair of the Neighborhood Preservation Committee, serves on several design review committees, and volunteers for facility reviews and technical assistance for churches via the Sacred Landmarks Committee. Jonathan has been the architect for over 40 buildings historically rehabilitated and adaptively reused in downtown Cleveland alone. Jonathan and his firm have achieved 40 awards for excellence in the past 12-years. In all, Jonathan and his team have achieved housing for nearly 5,000 residents in historic preservation adaptive re-use projects. In addition, Jonathan and his team have received the highest honor in the Nation from the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for Excellence in Achievement for the Notre Dame Academy Historic Preservation Adaptive Re-Use, Housing Project in 2001 and the following year were awarded again for Cleveland’s Hyatt Arcade project.
Jonathan donates many volunteer hours to preservation and revitalization programs, and continues to be one of the leading advocates for these causes, as well as the Ohio Main Street Program. The leadership provided to Heritage Ohio has been invaluable.
Jonathan believes that our existing buildings are one of our great storehouses of natural resources imbued with wonderful artistry and history that are as important to save as a matter of ecological, social and cultural responsibility. He has led both his hometown of Cleveland, as well as the state of Ohio in recognizing the importance of historic preservation and its role in rebuilding downtowns and entire communities. Jonathan Sandvick truly is Ohio’s Preservation Hero.