By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After piecemealing a house here and a business there as historic properties in Bowling Green, city officials on Monday declared a patch of 22 homes as the first historic district in the city.
At the recommendation of the BG Historic Preservation Commission, Bowling Green City Council voted unanimously in favor of designating much of North Maple Street as an historic district.
The effort has been a long time coming.
About five years ago, in an attempt to have a more sweeping impact to preserve historic structures in the city, the commission began talking about creating historic districts rather than one house at a time.
North Maple Street was identified as a good place to start.
The two blocks qualify since all the homes are at least 50 years old, they possess historic significance, they can be identified with a person who influenced society, they embody a distinctive characteristic of an architectural type, and they are a visual feature of the neighborhood.
There are 22 homes on five acres in the two blocks running north from West Wooster Street to Conneaut Avenue, with most of them built in the late 1880s or early 1900s.
Most of the houses can be classified as Folk Victorian design. At least one house represents the Eastlake Movement of Queen Anne Style, and one is suggestive of a Colonial Revival building.
“Overall, North Maple Street represents a typical Bowling Green residential area of the early 20th century during a time when the city was experiencing great expansion and population growth,” said John Sampen, who lives in one of the North Maple blocks and serves as president of the HPC.
“There’s a lot of pride” in the neighborhood, he said.
On Monday evening, during a public hearing on the issue, Sampen said he and his wife had just returned from Romania, which is steeped in centuries of historic sites. While Bowling Green’s history doesn’t go back as far, the city’s historic structures are worth saving, he said.
“We’re all proud of our Main Street businesses and majestic homes in Boomtown,” built during the oil boom in the late 1800s, Sampen said.
And North Maple Street offers “a fine example” of interesting architecture from the period, built by many civic leaders in the community, he added.
Sampen reported on a survey of homeowners conducted in March, noting that 64% of the respondents expressed support for the formation of the historic district.
The goal of historic preservation is to protect the historic integrity of buildings – and help when possible with restorations. It is not to nitpick and tell homeowners what they can and cannot do with their properties.
Sampen said the commission’s goal is to provide reasonable guidelines for homeowners.
“We’re not trying to preserve every brick and board on a home,” but to preserve the overall look, Sampen said.
“I think it’s exciting to have North Maple be the start,” he said.
“Our BG Historic Preservation Commission has worked hard on making sensible rules,” Sampen said.
Bowling Green Planning Director Heather Sayler explained that the ordinance is intended to be flexible.
“It’s to help people make good decisions,” she said.
The city became a Certified Local Government through the Ohio Historic Preservation Office, which allows the city to get preservation grants and tax credits to help homeowners and businesses protect historic buildings.
Rather than creating long lists of specific recommendations, the commission agreed to use guidelines recommended by the Secretary of Interior for the treatment of historic properties.
Now it’s in the hands of the Historic Preservation Commission and the North Maple Street residents to make the district work to benefit the community and the homeowners trying to preserve their homes.
Council member Rachel Phipps stressed the need for the HPC to be receptive and responsive to questions from property owners about how best to improve their homes while maintaining their historic exteriors.
Phipps encouraged the commission to expand on the information sought by homeowners in the FAQ section of its website.
“The success of North Maple Street will depend on the good will and participation of the district residents,” Phipps said prior to City Council voting on the ordinance Monday evening.
Mayor Mike Aspacher praised the work of the Historic Preservation Commission, made up of citizen volunteers.
“This is the result of a lot of hard work by the HPC,” Aspacher said of the creation of the first historic district in the city.
Phipps echoed that praise.
“I’m very grateful everyone has worked to get us to this point,” she said.
So far, local historic property distinctions have been declared for one home on East Court Street, the Wood County Courthouse, the BG Police Station, Needle Hall at City Park, and University Hall at BGSU.
Three sites and two historic districts in Bowling Green are currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Secretary of the Interior upon recommendation of the Ohio Historic Preservation Office. However, placement on the National Register provides no protection to any historic property.
