Downtown Historic District

A Middletown organization has submitted an application to create a historic district in downtown.

Downtown Middletown Inc., a nonprofit organization charged with promoting and helping in revitalizing downtown, submitted its application to create the historic downtown district to the National Register of Historic Places, said Mike Robinette, a board member of the organization.

“The fundamental motivation for doing it is when we create a historic district, any significant property within that district qualifies for state and federal (historic) tax credits,” said Robinette.

Most properties within the proposed downtown district would qualify for the state and federal historic tax credits, he said.

The application also included extending the South Main Street District to include properties around the Central Avenue and Main Street intersection and have the former Manchester Inn & Conference Center, the original Middletown Public Library building and the Railroad Depot at Central and Grimes on the National Register.

The application process, which costs about $14,000, was paid for by a Middletown Community Foundation grant, Robinette said. It was prepared with the assistance of Columbus architectural firm Hardlines Design Company.

“It’s a rather involved process,” said Robinette.

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation’s historic places “worthy of preservation,” according to the organization’s website. It was authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the National Park Service’s program coordinates and supports public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect historic and archaeological resources, according to the website.

More than 80,000 properties are listed on the National Register and represent 1.4 million individual resources, such as buildings, sites, districts, structures and objects.

Almost every county in the United States has at least one place listed in the National Register. There are 85 structures or districts registered in Butler County, and four in Middletown — which includes the Great Mound, Hughes Manor, South Main Street District and John B. Tytus House.

Two buildings within the South Main Street District — Sorg Opera House and the former Rose Furniture building — are being targeted for historic tax credits for renovation. There have been hundreds of buildings in 34 Ohio communities since 2007 that have received historic tax credits, and more than $327 million in tax credits have been awarded to 156 projects, including nearly $5.9 million for five projects in Hamilton.

Middletown City Manager Judy Gilleland, who worked on a similar application for an 89-building district as an intern in Tipp City, said it’s “a worthwhile designation and provides cohesion for a downtown area.”

“It demonstrates that there is a higher level of interest in the district and that we as a community value historic structures,” she said.