The Bowling Green Historic Preservation Commission is planning to seek a grant for signs that would mark historic buildings and sites in Bowling Green.
The group is also looking for residents who might be interested in helping choose what sites to highlight.
The HPC discussed the issue during the May meeting. One possibility is to apply for a Certified Local Government grant from the state of Ohio. The application is due early next year. CLG grants cover 50% of the cost of a project, with the city covering the remaining amount.
HPC Chair John Sampen said that a message had been written to Mayor Mike Aspacher asking for his blessing for the group’s efforts to create signage, and that they heard back from him on May 12.
Sampen read Aspacher’s letter, in which he wrote “I generally support this initiative. I believe this has the potential to create community support. There will be a number of items that will need to be considered,” including the total cost of the project, projected locations of the signs, potential conflicts associated with right-of-way, private property, and also what role city employees might have in installing the signs.
Sampen said that Planning Director Heather Sayler had done research on the cost of similar signs recently installed at City Park. He said the price for four such signs, including mounting and installation, was $8,300.
“So it’s going to cost us some money,” he said. “That’s why we need a grant.”
Sayler suggested the potential for a Bowling Green Community Foundation grant. However, the HPC themselves couldn’t apply for it, and would need a community partner. She also said that the application for a foundation grant is due in August.
“I have a proposal for involving our friends of HPC in helping planning and researching some signage,” Sampen said. “I’m not imagining that we’re going to be able to post a sign in the next three months,” he added, saying he expects the process to take a year.
Sampen said he wanted to engage residents who can think of places around the city that could be recognized, and which the HPC themselves might not necessarily think of. He mentioned the site of the former Bowling Green High School and Junior High, which is now occupied by Wooster Green.
“Somewhere is the site of the old Ohio Cut Glass building on North Enterprise,” he said. “So there must be other places that we might want to investigate, and so what I was thinking we might do is ask our friends to help identify places that they would like to see recognized and perhaps have a sign eventually posted with a history of that particular area. … It’s a small-big project. It’s much smaller than trying to run around town and inventory a bunch of houses. We’re not quite ready for that yet.”
Sampen said he hopes to start narrowing down the ideas for signage by July or August, with the potential of doing perhaps six signs. The HPC is planning for interested people to attend the June 28 meeting to discuss suggestions about locations for signage, and also goals for the commission.
Earlier in the meeting, Sampen said they will be sending out a welcoming letter to people the HPC has identified as potentially interested in participating in a “friends” group to assist them.
Also at the meeting, the HPC:
• Welcomed new member Geoff Howes. Howes was also elected as HPC secretary.
• Heard from Sampen that there has been significant movement in the effort to put the Wood County Courthouse and Jail on the city’s local historic register. Sampen said that recently Aspacher and the Wood County Commissioners signed a memorandum of understanding on the matter.
“This is a project that we’ve been working on in identifying and representing the county courthouse as a historic site in our town of Bowling Green,” Sampen said. “It had to go through all kinds of red tape and things with the county. I don’t think it was any problem, but it just took a while to work through mechanisms. That is nearing completion, so that is great.”
• Heard an update from Sampen on the status of potentially putting University Hall, on the campus of Bowling Green State University, on the register as well. Sampen noted that they had met with BGSU President Rodney Rogers approximately one year ago about the matter and presented an MOU to him. Sampen said there had been some contact back and forth regarding the MOU, and that he contacted Rogers’ office earlier this month about its status. He said he was informed that the matter is being discussed between BGSU’s legal counsel and City Attorney Mike Marsh.
