Springfield Register of Historic Properties
The following districts and buildings are on the local register by the Springfield Historic Landmarks Commission:
•The South Fountain Preservation Area
•The East High Street District
•The former Springfield News-Sun building, 202 N. Limestone St.
•Fellowship Spring Hill, 714 N. Limestone St., formerly known as Church of God Sanctified, Third Presbyterian Church or Northminster Presbyterian Church
•The Bushnell Building, 14 E. Main St. and 16-18 N. Fountain Ave., formerly Wren’s Department Store
•Pennsylvania House, 1311 W. Main St.
•IOOF Home for the Aged, 404 E. McCreight Ave.
•Wittenberg University’s Myers Hall
•The Heritage Center, 117 S. Fountain Ave., formerly known as The Marketplace
Formerly listed, now demolished
•The Arcade Building, located on the southeast corner of East High Street and South Fountain Avenue
•Clark County Veterans Memorial Hall, 300 W. Main St.
•Innisfallen Greenhouse/C.A. Reeser House, believed to be the site of the first successful mail-order nursery
Staying with the story
The Springfield News-Sun has reported extensively on the debate about historic preservation and downtown buildings, including recent stories on demolitions and changes to tax incentives for downtown.
The Springfield Historic Landmarks Commission and local preservationists will discuss which buildings may be targeted for historic designation.
In January, the commission began the discussion about compiling an initial list of structures.
The topic is listed for discussion at Monday’s meeting, the first since January. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the City Hall Forum Conference Room, 76 E. High St.
The previous two meetings were cancelled because there were no pending cases, according to Springfield Planning, Zoning, and Code Administrator Stephen Thompson. No working list had been made available to the city as of Thursday, Thompson said.
Commission members want to work with prospective building owners who may be willing to place their structure on the list. They also discussed possibly changing the criteria for how structures can be nominated for the Springfield Register of Historic Places.
Several community members were invited to discuss the possible list, including architect Steve Sharp, historian Kevin Rose, former Springfield City School District superintendent Edna Jean Harper and former Landmarks Commission member Basil Fett and his wife, Claudia.
The Springfield Register of Historic Properties has 12 historic structures and districts listed, but two have since been demolished, including Clark County Veterans Memorial Hall, the Arcade Building and the Innisfallen Greenhouse/C.A. Reeser House.
In December, the original portion of the former Springfield News-Sun building, 202 N. Limestone St., was placed on the local registry, the first addition since 1986. Cox Media Group sold the building in February 2014 to Lagos Apartments IV Inc. The News-Sun now operates out of 1 S. Limestone St., Suite 1010, in downtown Springfield.
Structures discussed for consideration on a working list during the January meeting included:
•The Gammon House, 620 Piqua Place.
•The Center Street YMCA, at the corner of Center and Pleasant streets.
•Hartman Rock Garden, 1905 Russell Ave.
•Wittenberg University’s Recitation Hall.
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