Preservation Ohio Joins in Ohio Statehood Day

On Tuesday, March 1, hundreds of Ohioans gathered at the Ohio Statehouse for the tenth annual Statehood Day. This event, sponsored by several statewide organizations including Preservation Ohio, provides an opportunity for supporters of history and preservation to come together to learn, celebrate, and importantly to speak to legislators about timely issues. This year, those issues included ones involving the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit, the state income tax “checkoff,” and advancing significant archaeological sites.

This year, the event also included awarding of the latest round of Ohio History Fund grants. Recipients represented a cross section of the state and a wide variety of projects — from $3,900 for replacment of a furance in the home of the Noble County Historical Society in Caldwell (housed in the 1832 Ball-Caldwell House); to $10,000 earmarked for a magnetometer survey of the Steel Earthworks in Ross County; to the largest grant of the year, $19,200 for a window replacement project in the Western Reserve Fire Museum & Education Center in Cleveland.

Special recognition was given to State Senator Kirk Schuring, the legislative point person for passage of the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit some ten years ago. Schuring noted that March should bring passage of the latest preservation-based bill from the Ohio General Assembly, one which will allow the benefits of tax credit projects to flow to downtown areas across the state.

Preservation Ohio had a display table at the event featuring the 2015 edition of Ohio’s Most Endangered Historic Sites. Board Members Marian Vance and Scott Crider joined Executive Director Thomas Palmer in speaking to dozens of attendees about the list and the opportunity to submit nominations for 2016.

Photos from the day are featured below.

Preservation Ohio joined other statewide organizations in hosting Statehood Day 2016