What It Takes to Bring a Historic Building Back to Life
When people hear that a project received Historic Preservation Tax Credits, it can sound like a lucky break.
In reality, it is the result of months—sometimes years—of research, planning, coordination, and careful documentation.
Today, we are celebrating one important milestone on that journey.
The Ohio Department of Development recently announced that The Glass Press in downtown Marietta has been awarded $2.575 million through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, helping advance a $10.55 million investment in two long-underutilized historic buildings.
For Revival, this milestone represents much more than completing an application.
Every historic tax credit project begins with a simple question:
What makes this place worth saving?
Answering that question requires far more than filling out forms. It means researching a building’s history, documenting existing conditions, identifying historic features worth preserving, and developing a rehabilitation strategy that honors the past while preparing the building for another century of use.
Historic tax credit applications become part architectural document, part historical narrative, and part economic development strategy.
They also require a remarkable amount of teamwork.
Architects, developers, preservation specialists, engineers, financial partners, and state reviewers all work together toward a common goal: giving important places a future.
For The Glass Press, that future includes apartments on the upper floors, along with a coffee shop, office space, and a food hall that will once again fill these buildings with activity and bring new energy to downtown Marietta.
The rehabilitation will also include exterior masonry repairs, restoration of historic materials, new compatible windows, upgraded building systems, and thoughtful interior reconfiguration designed to support modern uses while respecting the buildings’ historic character.
Projects like this remind us that historic preservation is not about freezing buildings in time.
It is about creating their next chapter.
As Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik recently shared:
“Historic preservation is a powerful economic development tool that helps communities unlock the potential of underutilized properties and attract future private investment. These tax credits are creating new opportunities for housing, small businesses, and local destinations—bringing new jobs, energizing downtowns, and preserving each community’s unique character.”
We could not agree more.
Every restored storefront, every occupied upper floor, every new resident, every small business, and every conversation shared over coffee becomes part of the ongoing story of a community.
We are grateful to help guide The Glass Press through this important milestone, and we look forward to continuing the work as the project moves from planning to construction.
Because at Revival, we believe the best historic buildings are not museums.
They are places where people live, work, gather, and create new stories.
Read More
Interested in learning more about this award and the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program?
- Read the official announcement from the Ohio Department of Development.
- Explore The Glass Press project and follow its progress at TheGlassPress.com.
The Glass Press Renderings
