From a one-room schoolhouse to a department store, these are Ohio’s “most endangered sites.”

A one-room schoolhouse in Akron. A 19th-century Episcopal church in Cincinnati. A century-old department store in Columbus. All these buildings have remained empty for a long time, forgotten over time, and are now threatened with demolition.

They top the list of Ohio’s most endangered historic sites this year. Over the past three decades, the nonprofit Preservation Ohio has compiled this list in an effort to highlight parts of Ohio’s history that they believe are at risk of extinction.

The nonprofit’s executive director, Thomas Palmer, said there are a plethora of properties to choose from each year. Many of them are of importance not only to their communities, but to the entire state.

“The old adage is that with a building you demolish, you lose the history forever,” Palmer said. “There’s no opportunity after the fact to bring this back and allow it to be part of Ohio’s future.”

The list

Fourteen properties from across the state made the list this year, including a museum in Miami County and a neighborhood in Cleveland’s premier historic district. Each of Ohio’s major metropolitan areas had areas to save. Palmer said that’s unusual, but it shows that preservation is a pressing issue, no matter the size of a community.

He said rural and urban areas both need help finding the funding to maintain old buildings.

“We work with local communities. When we have the opportunity, we will go and do site visits for these endangered properties. We will present the resources to people who are looking to preserve them,” Palmer said.

For each property, Palmer said history is at stake. Northern Ohio University plans to demolish an iconic classroom in Ada, where classes have been held since the late 1870s. And, in Findlay, the Building a new probate court could mean the northwest Ohio city loses its oldest religious structure. It first served as a church, before housing its juvenile court.

“Not every feature of the past needs to be preserved, but significant properties have a role to play in ensuring Ohio maintains its high quality of life as we move into the next century,” Palmer said.

Past successes

Being listed does not guarantee that any formal protection will preserve the buildings. But Palmer said that attention alone was enough to rally communities to support their local historic sites.

He credits the list with helping save a home designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in Springfield and ensuring the preservation of the Athenaeum Theater in downtown Columbus.

Ohio is far from the only state whose buildings are at risk. The program is modeled in part on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s endangered species lists. No Ohio building topped this national list this year, but in years past, gems like Cincinnati’s Union Terminal and entire Ohio villages have been featured.

Each of the properties on Palmer’s list will remain “in danger” until local governments step in to save them.