The Council of State plans a historic district for Lorain – Morning Journal

State historical experts may this week take action on the Town of Lorain’s request to create a historic designation for Broadway.

The Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board is set to meet on December 3 in Columbus with Lorain’s candidacy on the agenda.

The application is a National Register of Historic Places listing form completed by the historic preservation consultancy Naylor Wellman LLC.

City officials hired cabinet directors Wendy Hoge Naylor and Diana Wellman, who in May held a public meeting on the candidacy process.

Lorain mayor Jack Bradley said he had considered the request.

If approved at the state level, the city would be vetted by the National Park Service of the US Department of the Interior, which oversees historic designations.

The designation could help Lorain in at least two ways, Bradley said.

Building owners can get federal financial assistance to renovate and maintain buildings, he said.

Consultants said earlier this year that the 25 percent Ohio tax credit led to a $ 1.4 billion investment to rehabilitate 120 buildings in the state.

“So this certainly opens the door for further development of our businesses in the Town of Lorain, especially smaller businesses,” Bradley said.

Lorain could also become a new filming location for films as its historic downtown area and buildings are not always available in other communities, the mayor said.

Listing leads to pride in ownership and in the rehabilitation of buildings, he said.

It can increase the value of an entire neighborhood by giving it a prestige worthy of being preserved.

A historic district also lowers the overall cost of obtaining historic status for individual buildings, Naylor said.

The district has 101 contributory buildings, with two additional contributory structures and objects.

“The Historic Broadway District maintains historic architectural integrity with changes occurring during the Significant Period that do not detract from the integrity of the Historic District,” said the request. “The historic district embodies the center of commercial life and demonstrates the evolution and growth of the town of Lorain and the impact of the 1924 tornado on the built environment for the buildings that have remained and those that have been reconstructed. .

“The historic district features various architectural styles and types of commercial and residential buildings and includes civic, institutional and other building types, which span from 1882 to 1973.”

The buildings in downtown Lorain “are of varying styles, demonstrating both high-style features and general commercial building types,” says demand.

Many are probably designed by architects, but many architects are unknown due to lack of permits or plans, depending on demand.

The nomination package includes dozens of architectural descriptions of buildings and structures, including Lorain City Hall, 200 W. Erie Ave. and the Charles Berry Bascule Bridge, which create the northern border of the neighborhood.

There are 30 non-contributory buildings, “constructed outside the Significant Period or lacking historical integrity, lacking historic features, distinctive features, historic fabric or were clad in alternative materials”, depending on demand.

These include structures added to historic sites.

For example, the Veterans Memorial Park was part of the city’s original platform in 1834, and by 1888 it was recognized as a public park.

But the amphitheater and fountain at the Veterans Memorial Park, dating from 1985, are non-contribution structures, depending on demand.