MANSFIELD, Ohio — The Mansfield Historic Preservation Commission’s updated preservation plan was presented Tuesday evening during the Preservation Pop-up Plan Review at the Phoenix Brewing Company.
“It’s fitting that we’re in this space [the Phoenix] because we’re talking about historic preservation,” said commission member Dan Seckel as the meeting began. In attendance were other commission members, as well as public officials and local residents.
He said the commission sought to update its 30-year old plan, noting, “We went out for competitive bids to look for consultants to assist us and we received proposals from four or five really great groups, but we decided in the long run the best proposal we received was from the people who had created the plan 30 years ago in the first place.” He was referring to Benjamin D. Rickey & Co. out of Columbus. Designing Local, another Columbus-based organization, provided assistance.
Nancy Recchie of Benjamin D. Rickey & Co. shared how the group was able to come up with their recommendations for revitalization that are listed in the updated plan.
During the first public engagement meeting held in March of this year, she said attendees were asked to take photos of places in Mansfield that matter to them. She said they received a great response, commenting, “I think this showed us that people have a real sense of commitment to this place–that Mansfield matters to you.”
She said they also spent time doing fieldwork and conducting interviews with community leaders, historic preservation commission members and public officials.
“There’s nothing that we’re recommending for Mansfield that hasn’t worked in other communities,” she said.
While the city has successes, she said, highlighting the Ohio State Reformatory as an example, there are also challenges Mansfield must overcome.
“But whenever there’s a challenge, there’s an opportunity,” she said.
She said she’s been working on historic preservation in Columbus for 40 years, saying, “Three months ago, we heard the economic development person from the City of Columbus say that not a week goes by that we don’t have somebody who asks where our historic buildings are because they want to locate or expand a business…”
“So even a building that’s deteriorated and standing is an opportunity today because people are looking for unique, distinctive spaces.”
She discussed how to pay for the preservation of historic buildings–one way is by taking advantage of tax credits.
“There has been a 20 percent federal historic preservation credit for rehabilitating historic income-producing properties since 1983, but in recent years, there is a new state historic tax credit of 25 percent that can be combined. There is not a single property in Mansfield that has used the state historic preservation credit…”
“So you have buildings that are sitting here waiting for investment, and you have incentives. What you need is an owner with vision and the willingness to go through the process to try to use the credits.”
Mansfield resident Mary Lamp was excited to hear about this. As a member of the Glenwood and Parkwood Boulevard Association, she said she has a vested interest in maintaining the Glenwood and Parkwood Boulevard area.
“Perhaps if this [the tax credits] was more well-advertised there would be young people or middle-aged people with families that would come in and purchase and invest in some of the deteriorated properties,” she said.
The development of a special improvement district (SID) can also help pave the way for revitalization.
“What [the SID] means is property owners within a given boundary decide to come together to tax themselves and they use that money for an agreed upon plan,” Recchie said.
Seckel said this has been done before in Mansfield to help plant new trees and put in new sidewalks.
The Ohio Community Reinvestment Area program is yet another way to help with revitalization. It is an economic development tool administered by municipal and county government that provides real property tax exemptions for property owners who renovate existing or construct new buildings. This was utilized in downtown Columbus, “and it was incredibly successful,” Recchie said.
Also noted in the plan are some neighborhood recommendations, like promoting local bank participation in the Heritage Home Program. The Heritage Home Program offers a range of services that help people repair, maintain, and rehab an older home, while retaining the architectural features and increasing its value, according to the website.
Another suggestion is to turn vacant lots into green spaces.
Recchie also talked about heritage tourism. “You’re doing some very good things with heritage tourism,” she said, adding that there’s still room to grow.
One possibility is holding a historic church tour of the various churches in the area. “You have churches that are spectacular buildings,” she said.
Currently, the preservation plan is in review by the historic preservation commission.
Seckel said it will be posted on the city’s website.
He noted, “When we put the grant together, we weren’t planning on [the plan] costing so much to put together. It’s really become a big document…the consultants have volunteered to lower their fee,” to help cover the cost of printing the plan, he said.
“The reason we did that was we really believe something’s going to happen here and that [the plan] needs to get into peoples’ hands,” Recchie said.
