Lakewood is a city with many century homes and historic buildings that are some of the community’s most distinguishing characteristics.

These characteristics helped Lakewood earn recognition as one of the “Best Places in the Midwest to Buy an Old Home” from This Old House Magazine.

The Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board has been recognizing preservation projects in the city for a decade.

Now, city council is encouraging the promotion of historic preservation through proposed legislation that would allow the creation of historic districts.

Council is now urging the Ohio General Assembly to renew the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit (OHPTC). A measure supporting the credit was approved on a first reading at a recent council meeting.

Proponents of the legislation on council, pointed out that historic preservation projects can be drivers for local economies and Lakewood is ideally suited with its significant number of historic buildings to attract tax dollars.

Councilman Tom Bullock said that support from LakewoodAlive and other city leaders has been instrumental given the “budget tsunami that the state legislature faces.”

Mary Anne Crampton, the executive director of LakewoodAlive, said she hopes that the legislation in the state moves forward.

“This (isn’t) just about preservation,” she said. “It is also a revenue generator for the state of Ohio.”