Downtown Van Wert has received a special recognition after a six year process.
The organization Main Street Van Wert was told the downtown area was approved as a historic district. This status came after a long application process, which included registering the historic buildings individually.
Those who worked to apply for the historic district status say this will be big for investments, protect buildings that can still be used, and bring more attention to Van Wert.
"It’s going to open up a lot, the residents will benefit from it and it could lead to more businesses, it could lead to more fine dining, it could lead to a brewery, we just don’t know," said Mitch Price, executive director of Main Street Van Wert. "I think that puts another tool in the tool shed, and we’re excited to see what happens with it."
An incident involving bricks falling from a historic building in Van Wert happened a few weeks ago, and the city marked it for demolition.
The new historic designation will not affect that process.
"We knew that building needed some help, needed some love, and the unfortunate part of it is that it's too late to save that building. It takes a lot of money to save building like that the size of that one," Price said.
The city is still figuring out what resources they will be using for the demolition. The building is expected to come down sometime within the next 30 days.
