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Media contacts: Kim Schuette: 614.297.2314 or kschuette@ohiohistory.org
For Immediate Release: July 19, 2010
Avon Isle Listed on National Register of Historic Places
(AVON, OHIO)—The Avon Isle has recently been listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the Director of the National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/nrlist.htm; Weekly List for July 9). The property was nominated by Burt Logan, state historic preservation officer and executive director and CEO of the Ohio Historical Society, at the recommendation of the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board at its April meeting.
About the Property
Avon Isle Listed on National Register of Historic Places
37080 Detroit Road, Avon; Lorain County
For more than 50 years, Avon Isle served as the hub for recreational and social activities for Avon and surrounding communities. Built in 1926, it served as a dance hall until 1959 and then hosted community functions until the 1970s. The pavilion is architecturally intact and remains in its historic setting within Avon Isle Park. Avon Isle embodies the characteristics that make it an excellent representation of recreational dance pavilions associated with this early- to mid-20th-century America. During this time, social dancing was a major recreational and social activity. Avon Isle was one of hundreds of dance halls that sprang up early in the 20th century in Ohio. While many dance halls were built in proximity to newly popular amusement parks, Avon Isle never housed permanent amusement park rides. Its natural park-like setting may have contributed to its continued use and survival.
About the National Register
The National Register lists places that should be preserved because of their significance in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture. It includes buildings, sites, structures, objects, and historic districts of national, state, and local importance.
To be eligible for listing on the National Register a property or district must:
- Be associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history, or
- Be associated with the lives of people significant in our past, or
- Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or represent the work of a master, or possess high artistic values, or represent a significant, distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction (e.g. a historic district), or
- Have yielded, or be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
National Register listing often raises community awareness of a property. However, listing does not obligate owners to repair or improve their properties and does not prevent them from remodeling, altering, selling, or even demolishing them if they choose to do so.
Owners who rehabilitate income-producing properties listed on the National Register can qualify for a 20-percent federal income tax credit if the work they do follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, guidelines used nationwide for repairs and alterations to historic buildings.
In Ohio anyone may prepare a National Register nomination. Nominations are made through the Ohio Historic Preservation Office of the Ohio Historical Society. Proposed nominations are reviewed by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board, a governor-appointed panel of citizens and professionals in history, architecture, archaeology, and related fields. The board reviews each nomination to see whether it appears to be eligible for listing on the National Register, then makes a recommendation to the State Historic Preservation Officer. The final decision to add a property to the register is made by the National Park Service, which administers the program nationwide.
About the Ohio Historic Preservation Office
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, qualifies communities for the Certified Local Government program and administers a competitive grants program for CLG communities, consults on the conservation of older buildings and sites and offers educational programs and publications.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
* National Register of Historic Places nomination and high-resolution photos of Avon Isle may be downloaded at http://www.ohiohistory.org/resource/histpres/programs/media.html.
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