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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release
Brookfield Township in Trumbull County, City of Elyria
Ohio's Newest Certified Local Governments
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — The Ohio Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio Historical Society announced today that Brookfield Township in Trumbull County and the City of Elyria are Ohio's newest Certified Local Governments. The number of Certified Local Governments in Ohio is now 48.
Brookfield Township is located in Trumbull County in northeast Ohio, the state's Connecticut Western Reserve region. The township hugs the Pennsylvania border and has a population of about 10,000. The focal point of the township is the Brookfield Center Historic District and New England style village green. The significance of the green is enhanced by structures representing the growth and development of Brookfield Center from 1830 to 1930. With its recently constructed Victorian bandstand, the green is the site of community events and celebrations.
Elyria is located in northeast Ohio at the forks of the Black River, seven miles south of Lake Erie. It is the county seat of Lorain County and is part of the greater Cleveland metropolitan area. Founded in 1817, the city currently has a population of about 56,000. Numerous historic properties in Elyria are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Elyria Multiple Resource Area.
"We welcome Brookfield Township and Elyria to the Certified Local Government Program," said William K. Laidlaw, Jr., State Historic Preservation Officer and executive director and CEO of the Ohio Historical Society. "As Certified Local Governments, they will directly participate in the national historic preservation program, receive training and technical assistance from the Ohio Historic Preservatioin Office and are eligible to apply for small grants to help meet their local preservation priorities.”
The Certified Local Government Program, active in Ohio since 1985, is a federal-state-local partnership that provides a way for qualified communities to conduct a wide range of preservation activities, including survey of historic resources, designation of properties to local registers of historic places, review of changes to designated properties, and participation in nomination of properties to the National Register of Historic Places, all in close cooperation with the State Historic Preservation Office.
To become a Certified Local Government, a political jurisdiction must have each of the following:
- Qualified review commission who serve to designate historic properties and to review proposed changes to the historic environment
- Historic preservation ordinance designed to protect historic resources and offer guidance to those wishing to make changes to those resources
- Procedures for identifying historic properties
- Historic preservation public participation program.
Certified Local Government status also entitles a community to apply for matching grants. Communities typically use the grants to identify historic places and plan for their preservation, rehabilitate buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, sponsor seminars and workshops, and develop architectural guidelines, walking tour publications and other educational products.
"The Certified Local Government program helps communities maintain a sense of place that enhances the quality of life for residents,” Laidlaw said. “Through historic preservation communities make cost-effective use of their historic resources, create jobs, provide affordable housing, revive downtowns, build tourism and attract new businesses and workers.”
Forty-eight communities currently participate in the Certified Local Governments program and are eligible to apply for the grants, including Alliance, Akron, Aurora, Barberton, Berea, Brookfield Township, Canal Fulton, Canal Winchester, Canfield, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Delaware, Dublin, Elyria, Euclid, Galion, Gallipolis, Glendale, Green, Hudson, Lancaster, Lorain, Madison, Mansfield, Mariemont, Marysville, Massillon, Medina, Montgomery, Mt. Pleasant, New Richmond, Oberlin, Olmsted Falls, Oxford, Parma, Perrysburg, Portsmouth, Salem, Shaker Heights, Springboro, Steubenville, Tipp City, Toledo, Waynesville, Willoughby and Zanesville.
To learn more about the Certified Local Governments program, call (614) 298-2000.
The Ohio Historic Preservation Office is Ohio’s official historic preservation agency. A part of the Ohio Historical Society, it identifies historic places in Ohio, nominates properties to the National Register of Historic Places, reviews federally-assisted projects for effects on historic, architectural, and archaeological resources in Ohio, consults on conservation of older buildings and sites and offers educational programs and publications.
The Ohio Historical Society is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as the state’s partner in preserving and interpreting Ohio’s history, archaeology and natural history. Learn more at www.ohiohistory.org.
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