Ohio's Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program will support the rehabilitation of 42 buildings across the state in the latest round of awards.
Every application this year was approved because there was money left over from unfinished projects, according to Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik.
She says historic preservation adds to the quality of life in a community.
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“You take an older, under-utilized historic building, and you put a little polish on it and put it back into more productive use, it contributes to a lot of things — just the way things feel — but also the tax base,” Mihalik says. “It helps preserve the character of these downtowns in particular.”
Many projects include taking former office buildings and turning them into residential places. “We know housing is an incredibly important topic on the minds of a lot of Ohioans these days,” Mihalik says.
Local projects include the First National Bank building at 4th and Walnut, 607 Main, and the Regal Theater in the West End.
The city of Hamilton has two projects on the list: the Hamilton YWCA and the Shuler-Benninghofen Mill. Middletown has one — the Building & Deposit Association building; and there’s one in Dayton, too: the Joseph E Lowes House.
Mariangela Pfister with the Ohio History Connection's preservation office says the state credits are combined with federal credits.
“These historic rehabilitation projects often can’t happen without funding,” she says. “They’re all historic buildings all done with the (United States) Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation in mind, so they’re all very sensitively done. Everything that makes them significantly historic are retained in these rehabilitations.”
A release from the state says the projects are expected to generate $715 million in private investments.
