Thirteen buildings in
Over-the-Rhine will soon be added to the
National Register of Historic Places, in part because of a grant provided to the organization by the
Ohio Development Services Agency. The $8,000 will allow the
Over-the-Rhine Foundation to hire a third party to do the research and prepare the applications for the Register.
The grant is a fairly new state initiative—only three awards have been given, and the first was to the Kirby Road School in
Northside. The OTR Foundation is the third organization to receive the grant.
“As far as we know, we’re the only state that has a program like this,” says Thea Walsh, deputy chief for the Office of Redevelopment. “This is a great new opportunity that the state is coming into with the Ohio Historic Tax Credit program. It will help build more opportunities for communities to attract investors.”
Made possible through a partnership with the
Ohio Historic Preservation Office, the grant will make the buildings eligible for both the state and federal
Historic Preservation Tax Credit programs. The grant will support expanding the historic district in OTR to include the buildings, which are mainly situated along Reading Raod and Central Avenue. These buildings were left out for one reason or another when OTR was named a historic district back in the 1980s, Walsh says.
The total cost of the project is about $13,000—the Foundation will work with property owners to raise the private funds needed for the remainder of the project, says Nathaniel Kaelin, program manager for the
Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit program.
“Tens of millions of dollars have already been invested in Over-the-Rhine, and this will only help drive revitalization efforts,” Kaelin says.
Two of the buildings are already targeted for redevelopment, and several investors are interested in the future of the buildings.
By Caitlin Koenig
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