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Preservation Builds Community
Beth Johnson, CPA executive director, points with pride to one sterling local example in Heritage Ohio's video series on the many aspects and benefits of Historic Preservation.
St. Michael the Archangel Church, in the Lower Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, is a stunning example of the best practices in preservation, and how one single project can transform and lift up an entire community.
Opened in 1848, Saint Michaels is the second oldest surviving Catholic Church in Cincinnati. After 150 years, the church closed for good in 1998. It sat vacant and abandoned until 2008, when Education Matters, a local, non-profit group, bought it with plans to make it the keystone of a non-profit, social service community campus.
In 2011, they were awarded the opportunity to receive state and federal historic and new market tax credits to completely renovate their campus.
In 2013, construction began. The renovation included a complete restoration of all five buildings on their campus to preserve the structures, improve functionality, and increase efficiency.
In 2015, the organization secured a funding package that made it possible to restore the Sanctuary, and repurpose it as a special events center to generate revenue to support the mission of Community Matters. The restoration followed the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation which governs historic tax credit projects.
The growing Saint Michael's campus is being preserved and reimagined for new uses. The former rectory, school building, and annex buildings have all be repurposed to provide space for needed community social services, continuing education, a laundromat, and so much more.
This is one of many examples of how preservation builds community and impacts all of us.
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PRESERVATION FUNDING AVAILABLE | | |
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Our area's Certified Local Governments (CLG's) are pinned on the map to the left.
Learn more about the process to become a CLG here.
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Ohio History Connection Seeks Local Applicants for Grants
Ohio History Connection's State Historic Preservation Office announces 2024 Certified Local Government (CLG) grant funding. CLG grants have been used for a variety of local programs and initiatives that aim to boost historic preservation efforts in the community.
The CLG Program facilitates cooperation between state and local governments with Federal partners to promote nationwide preservation initiatives. Through the CLG certification process, local communities make a commitment to national historic preservation standards. This commitment is key to America's ability to preserve, protect, and increase awareness of our unique cultural heritage found across the country. Certified Local Governments range from small villages to major urban centers.
Funding is available to CLG's with applications due April 30th.
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Mater Dei Chapel listed in the National Register of Historic Places
On March 8th the National Register of Historic Places announced new listings including Mount St. Joseph University's Mater Dei Chapel in Delhi Township.
This is our seven-county service region's 817th national listing! CPA services Hamilton, Clermont, Warren, Kenton Campbell and Boone counties. This incredible number includes individual buildings and historic districts making the actual amount of nationally recognized historic structures in our area much higher (imagine all the historic buildings in the OTR historic district alone!)
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Left to Right:
Dr. H. James Williams, Mount St. Joseph University President
Nancy Coppenbarger and Maureen McClure (representing their aunt Marlene Hoffmann, '61)
Judy Dettenwanger Ellebler, '61
Peg Rolfes Brungs, '60
Sister Karen Elliot
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Left to Right:
Sister Karen Elliot
Maddie Williams, MSA Design (Preservation consultant who wrote the nomination)
Dr. H. James Williams, Mount St. Joseph University President
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About the Chapel
The Mater Dei, which means Mother of God, Chapel is a two-story, mid-century modern style collegiate chapel. The interior of the Chapel is adorned with Mid-Century liturgical works of art that have a high degree of artistic value. This stunningly inspiring space is the spiritual and communal centerpiece of the campus and is the setting for commissioning and pinning ceremonies, lecture programs, memorial observances, and worship services throughout the year.
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"The Mater Dei Chapel is unique to the US in many ways, one being that no other Catholic college or university in the country was designed and created by their faculty and undergraduate students.
Also in the 1960s, there had been no chapels created by women. Our chapel was the first." -Sr. Karen
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All of it was designed by six women—three Sisters of Charity and three undergraduate art students —in the late 1950s and early 60s, a time when women were all but absent from leadership roles in the professional worlds of architecture, art and design, let alone the creation of religious spaces.
Sister of Charity, Sister Augusta Zimmer, SC along with three Mount St. Joseph University students, Margaret Rolfes Brungs ’60, Judith Dettenwanger Ebbeler ’61, and Marlene Hoffman ’61, are responsible for the interior design, furnishings, and works of art within Mater Dei Chapel. Sister Augusta was assisted by Sister Ann Austin Mooney, SC and Sister Loretta Ann McCarty, SC who also contributed liturgical art to the newly constructed Chapel.
Mater Dei Chapel is also significant at the local level as the works of art within the Chapel are representative of the first female designed collegiate chapel prior to the modern liturgical movement. They represent a shift in the design profession from a male dominated environment to females taking a leadership role within the design community. The works of art, produced by Sisters of Charity and three female students, signify a social transformation not only in the design community, but within the Catholic Church and previously defined gender roles.
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State Funds Granted to Local Sites
On March 1st, the 221st anniversary of Ohio statehood, the 2024 Ohio History Fund grant recipients were announced. Two local awards were given!
The American Sign Museum won $7,804 for the restoration and LED upgrade to key Ohio signs and Anderson Township Historical Society won $19,000 for their Miller-Leuser Log House chimney restoration.
The log house pictured above is located at 6550 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45230 and dates from 1796; the chimney, original to the house, is its most distinguishing feature. Previous attempts to restore the chimney, undertaken decades ago, require attention. To save this structure, the historical society is turning to professional historic preservationists, who will use period appropriate materials to preserve the chimney and make it useable again. The hearth is pictured below.
The Miller-Leuser Log House has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974 and the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties will guide the work.
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2024 Awards Celebration
Thursday, May 9th, from 6-9 pm at
Peterloon Estate
CPA will celebrate National Preservation Month this May by recognizing excellence in preservation across 10 categories:
Awards for Individuals or Organizations
- Education
- Preservation Champion
- Impact Award
- Volunteer Award
Awards for Building Projects
Projects must have been completed in the last 3 years.
- Preservation Excellence-Sustainability
- Preservation Excellence- Commercial Project
- Preservation Excellence-Residential Projects
- Preservation Excellence-Institutional Projects
- Preservation Excellence-Adaptive Reuse
- New Construction/Infill
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Submission deadline extended to March 22nd | |
Love Preservation? Want to give back? Sign up to volunteer at a community event! | |
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NKY Restoration Weekend
Saturday, April 27th
Newport Intermediate School
FREE
NKY Restoration Weekend is in its 14th year and is a celebration of historic preservation that features informative seminars, workshops, practical advice, and services to the historic homeowner, property owner, and building professional. Come to discover solutions for the repair and maintenance of your historic house, determine what projects you can undertake yourself, and gain confidence in hiring a contractor.
A huge part of the success of this event is due to great volunteers who help us with set up, check-in, session monitors, and wayfinding.
Cincinnati Preservation Association is a planning partner and sponsor for the annual NKY Restoration Weekend. Please lend a hand at this valuable local event.
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Presented by AIA Cincinnati’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) and Women in Architecture. | |
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The Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame: Enhancing Urban Environments Through Thoughtful Planting Design
Thursday, April 4, 2024
5:30 - 7:00 PM
The Kleingers Group
6219 Centre Park Drive, West Chester Township, OH 45069
The Black Music Walk of Fame celebrates the untold stories of Black artists and musicians from Cincinnati, Ohio. The presentation will also explain how thoughtful landscape architecture can harmoniously intertwine sustainability with urban, high-end design, showcasing to local architects and design professionals how to successfully achieve similar projects in the region.
Includes drinks and appetizers
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CNU envisions a world where cities, towns, and neighborhoods are intentionally designed and managed to foster community, preserve the natural environment, and improve the lives of all people. | |
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CNU 32 Cincinnati
May 15th - 18th
Early Bird Discount through March 31st
CNU's 32nd annual Congress brings 1500 multidisciplinary practitioners across the design and development fields to Cincinnati with the goal of expanding our collective understanding of how to deliver walkable, sustainable, and equity supportive urbanism to more communities. In doing so, we will learn important lessons from the local context about Cincinnati's journey to implement Restorative Urbanism.
Founded in 1993, New Urbanism is a movement united around the belief that our physical environment has a direct impact on our chances for happy, prosperous lives. New Urbanists believe that well-designed cities, towns, neighborhoods, and public places help create community: healthy places for people and businesses to thrive and prosper.
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