Historic Preservation Planning

Why Plan for Historic Preservation?

Historic preservation planning helps Ohio communities identify, protect, and care for the places that tell their stories. Ohio’s State Historic Preservation Plan, Reconciliation, Recovery and Resilience: A Historic Preservation Plan for Ohioans, 2023–2030, emphasizes that preservation is part of community growth, revitalization, sustainability, and telling the full story of Ohio. Planning helps communities make thoughtful decisions about historic buildings, neighborhoods, downtowns, landscapes, archaeological sites, and other cultural resources before they are lost through demolition, neglect, or incompatible change.

A preservation plan gives communities a practical way to set priorities, expand public awareness, connect residents with preservation tools and incentives, and align preservation with local goals such as housing, economic development, transportation, tourism, disaster preparedness, and neighborhood revitalization. The strongest plans are developed with public input and help communities recognize whose stories are represented, whose stories may be missing, and how historic places can support a more resilient future.

Ohio’s Historic Preservation Plan

With public input from around the state, the State Historic Preservation Office has created a state historic preservation plan titled Reconciliation, Recovery and Resilience: A Historic Preservation Plan for Ohioans, 2023-2030. Ohio’s historic preservation plan helps set a direction for historic preservation efforts throughout the state and brings attention to the most urgent needs.

What Can You Do?

  • Work with your local government to plan carefully for the future of the places that are evidence of your community’s heritage. If you have a historic preservation plan, make sure it is up-to-date and is being implemented.
  • Establish local historic preservation legislation Protect your historic resources through an ordinance or resolution, or make sure the existing legislation is adequate and that the properties that need protection have indeed been designated as historic. To assist your community in drafting historic preservation legislation, the State Historic Preservation Office has created a model
    ordinance.

Historic Preservation Planning Initiatives

Learn more about targeted planning initiatives in Ohio and beyond. You may also download Ohio's current state plan for historic preservation from here.