Conference Welcome

You Bought a Historic Building. Now What?

Historic buildings can be an exciting purchase and a great investment. Once you take the plunge, what do you do next? This seminar will discuss assessments, master plans, and how to get the right people on your team to make the most of your building.

Place-Based Storytelling to Attract Talent and Investment

Communities with big visions often struggle to get attention. This session explores how video storytelling can help you foster community engagement. Learn how to highlight local assets, share your community’s evolution, and generate interest from investors, workers, and new collaborators. You'll also gain thoughtful strategies for developing content and building capacity with budget in mind.

Take a Hike®: Preservation Through Experience

How storytelling, place, and public engagement strengthen historic and cultural preservation.

Building Trades Forum

Designing for Context: Contemporary Infill in Historic Places

One of the most common questions in preservation and design is: "What does compatible really mean?" Too often, compatibility is misunderstood as replication, leading to debates over whether new buildings should mimic historic architecture or stand apart as contemporary design. The reality is far more nuanced. Successful infill design requires understanding the character-defining features of a historic district, interpreting preservation guidelines, the community's preservation goals, and thoughtfully creating architecture that respects its surroundings while reflecting the time in which it is built. This presentation explores how architects, developers, planners, preservationists, and review boards can navigate the intersection of historic context and contemporary design. Through real-world case studies, participants will examine how scale, massing, rhythm, materials, and site relationships can create compatibility without resorting to imitation. The session will also focus on the importance of communicating design intent. Many projects encounter opposition not because of poor design, but because the thought process behind the design has not been effectively conveyed. Attendees will learn techniques for documenting and presenting design decisions, illustrating how a project responds to its historic context, and building public understanding through clear visual and narrative storytelling.

Artonomics

Developer Forum

Ticketed Event.

Built on Beer: Cincinnati's Brewing Resources

Currently awaiting approval from the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board is a Multiple Property Documentation on Cincinnati's Brewing Resources, as well as an additional NRHP District of the Bruckmann Brewery. The MPD identified and describes Cincinnati's brewing resources including, but not limited to brewhouses, ice houses, malt houses, bottling facilities, and underground lagering cellars. The cellars are a relatively unique resources in the United States with only a handful of cities having had them documented. The session will walk through the steps in preparing the MPDF and NRHP District, as well as give background information on the city's brewing history, and related architectural resources with an emphasis on the lagering cellars. The funding source of the MPDF and district will be talked about with possible future steps re: heritage tourism and local preservation efforts of the cellars themselves.

From Preservation to Participation: Practical AI Tools for Storytelling, Marketing, and Downtown Revitalization

Historic preservation is ultimately about storytelling of place, people, and purpose. But most communities are sitting on years of archives, photos, reports, and untold stories with limited time or staff to bring them to life. This session explores how AI can help preservation professionals and Main Street leaders transform existing data and historical materials into compelling narratives, marketing content, and community engagement strategies. Participants will learn practical ways to use AI to: *Organize and interpret historical documents and community data Generate engaging content for tourism, downtown revitalization, and local businesses * Support grant writing, marketing campaigns, and public engagement efforts Walk away with real tools and examples to help you amplify your community’s story, increase visibility, and focus your time on the work that matters most, preserving and activating place.

Unlocking Hidden Spaces: Grassroots Real Estate as a Catalyst for Downtown Change

Real estate development is often viewed with skepticism in many Main Street circles, yet it can be one of the most powerful tools for revitalization. This lecture reframes the conversation—focusing on how underserved and underutilized properties can become catalysts for transformation when activated through grassroots, community-driven efforts. Participants will explore how Main Street programs can move beyond the stigma of “big development” and instead embrace small-scale, people-centered property activations that bring vibrancy, equity, and opportunity back into neglected spaces. By combining place-based economic development with creative programming, we’ll demonstrate how communities can reclaim overlooked properties as engines of inclusive growth. About the Session Content Does your community have a love-hate relationship with real estate development? Don’t worry—most do. But what if real estate wasn’t just about big developers and complex deals? What if your vacant lots, empty storefronts, or forgotten upper floors became the seeds of transformation? This session will unpack how communities can use grassroots organizing, volunteer power, and local partnerships to reimagine and repurpose underutilized properties. We’ll share strategies to transform these spaces into catalysts that spark momentum, attract investment, and empower residents to see themselves as changemakers in the process. Participants will also gain practical tools for capital stack preparation—the essential funding structure that blends local, private, philanthropic, and public resources to make small and large projects financially feasible. By demystifying financing, communities can more confidently pursue activation projects, whether for temporary pop-ups or long-term redevelopments.

The Gwynne Building: Boutique Hotel Conversion

The Gwynne Building, designed by Ernest Flag in 1913 for Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt in the Beaux Arts style. From 1935-1956 it held the corporate headquarters for Proctor & Gamble. The building has been fully renovated to house the "Fidelity of Cincinnati" Boutique Hotel which is being renovated to house hotel amenity spaces, ballrooms, and meeting space with 174 hotel suites. The $88M project will receive $16M in Federal HTC and was awarded $7.2M from OHPTC. The hotel is scheduled to open in July.

Vendors' Reception

Annual Awards Ceremony & Film Festival

Ohio Main Street & Young Ohio Preservationists Networking

Significance of Signs: Why Preserving Historic Signs Matters to the Identity and Vitality of Traditional Business Districts

This session explores the cultural, architectural, and economic importance of historic signage and the critical role signs play in defining the identity of traditional commercial corridors. Through examples from Cincinnati and communities across the country, this session examines how historic signs function as visual landmarks, storytellers, and placemaking tools that connect people to neighborhood history and local business culture. Participants will learn how signs reflect community diversity, reinforce neighborhood character, and contribute to economic vitality through heritage branding and authentic sense of place. The session will also explore the threats posed by uniform corporate signage, evolving zoning regulations, and redevelopment pressures that can erode local identity. In addition to discussing why historic signs matter, the presentation provides practical preservation guidance grounded in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Attendees will gain an understanding of preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and reconstruction approaches for historic signage, along with strategies for integrating sign preservation into local design guidelines, zoning policies, and revitalization efforts.

Leveraging Land Banks for Economic Revitalization

This session will explore how land banks are evolving from blight removal entities into strategic partners in local economic development. Drawing on real projects from communities across Ohio, the panel will highlight how land banks are assembling land, clearing title, and reducing risk to make redevelopment possible in places where the private market alone often falls short. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how land banks support housing development, downtown revitalization, and catalytic investment, along with the partnerships and tools that make these projects work. The session will focus on replicable approaches, lessons learned, and how communities of varying sizes can leverage land banks to unlock opportunity and drive sustainable growth.

Building Community Through Collaboration

In 2026, Main Street Portsmouth In Bloom celebrates 20 years as a non-profit organization and 19 years as a Main Street America and Heritage Ohio program. The success and longevity of Main Street Portsmouth In Bloom may be attributed to a willing spirit of collaboration with individuals, organizations, and businesses in our Community. The strong relationship between Main Street Portsmouth In Bloom, the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Portsmouth-Scioto County Visitors Bureau is a testament to the transformative power of collaboration. Because of this, we have been asked to share our story and our secret to success with regional Chamber of Commerce, County Visitor Bureau, and Business Development organizations on numerous occasions. Not only do we collaborate with the Visitors Bureau and the Chamber, but we also consider other organizations in our Community to be partners instead of competitors. Our partnership extends to our local government at the county and municipal levels. This allows us to have a greater positive impact on our Downtown Commercial and Historic Districts, and it makes our fundraising dollars stretch further for projects and events. Collaboration with Small Business in our Downtown and partnering with larger businesses for sponsorships is an economic driver and allows us to create meaningful experiences for participants in our annual events. This attitude toward partnership builds our membership and our fundraising capacity. Working together on projects with volunteers in our local school district and the county career technical center generates ownership in our urban environment amongst the student body. Not only does this collaboration create a foundation for responsible civics, but it also helps to keep these young people in our area after graduation. Our strong Volunteer Program is also a reflection of our collaborative nature. The collaborations in which we participate help to build our reputation in the region, helping to attract and retain our volunteers. Collaboration builds Community, making the positive change in Downtown Portsmouth over the last 20 years possible.

Planning for Placemaking on Main Street

This session explores how comprehensive placemaking can truly transform a Main Street, moving beyond one-off projects to create a more vibrant downtown. Using real-world examples, we’ll show how a solid planning framework uses local culture to spark long-term economic growth. You’ll learn how the planning process helps create authentic local experiences, helping communities build a unique identity people recognize and love. We’ll wrap up by sharing a straightforward approach to building a strategic blueprint that ensures your future projects align with the community’s big-picture vision. Plus, we’ll talk about why the planning phase is so important for securing funding and making sure your ideas actually get built.

The Power of SIDs: Turning Revitalization into Reality

Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) are not just funding tools—they’re delivery systems that help neighborhoods consistently bring their revitalization visions to life. This session explores how SIDs support community health, safety, and vibrancy through coordinated services, placemaking, and partnerships. While many communities, particularly those with Main Street programs, have a strong vision for revitalization, they often face challenges related to consistent funding and implementation capacity. SIDs offer a structured, sustainable way to deliver day-to-day services that reinforce those efforts. Drawing on real-world examples from districts across Ohio, the session will highlight how SIDs enhance both the physical environment and lived experiences of residents, employees, and visitors, while working alongside existing revitalization and preservation efforts.   Key Topics: o How SIDs contribute to perceived and actual safety (clean + safe programs, ambassador services) o The role of maintenance and environmental quality in supporting public health and preservation o How SIDs reinforce and extend Main Street and downtown programming efforts o Leveraging partnerships with local governments, Main Street organizations, and private stakeholders to encourage neighborhood vibrancy o Translating revitalization vision into consistent, visible outcomes

Ohio Historic Inventory

Join State Historic Preservation Office staff as they walk you through the steps to conduct an historic survey and complete Ohio Historic Inventory (OHI) forms for a historic building in downtown Cincinnati. Identifying and evaluating historic properties through survey is an important first step to knowing the historic properties in your commercial core or residential neighborhoods. Topics covered will include identifying the survey area, researching historic properties, getting ready to go out in the field, using the online Ohio Historic Inventory form to document historic properties, and preparing a survey report. Attendees will also learn about updating existing historic resources survey and associated OHI forms. Session participants will then hit the street for a hands-on activity to survey a historic building for the Ohio Historic Inventory.

Making It Happen: How Ohio’s Districts Are Transforming Vision into Results

Revitalization isn’t driven by a single model—it’s a coordinated effort. Some organizations build momentum, some keep things running day to day, and others reshape the physical environment. Lasting success happens when those roles work together. This panel brings together district leaders from communities of varying sizes to share how they are implementing revitalization on the ground. Panelists will share real-world insights on how district-based approaches—specifically Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) and similar models—help support clean, safe, and vibrant environments. The conversation will highlight how these tools complement existing revitalization efforts and can be adapted for communities of all sizes and locations.