UG Honored as a Historic Preservation Trailblazer

UG Honored as a Historic Preservation Trailblazer

Published on November 21, 2024

At their annual gala on November 12, 2024, the Historic Kansas City Foundation awarded the Unified Government its 2024 Trailblazers Award. The Historic Preservation Awards program celebrates the people who make preservation happen. This award acknowledges the Unified Government's efforts to resurrect its historic preservation program.

About Historic Preservation in KCK

Kansas City, Kansas (KCK) originally adopted its Historic Preservation ordinance in 1964. This established the Landmarks Commission and the Kansas City, Kansas Register of Historic Places, thereby launching a long tradition dedicated to preserving our local community's history. After the creation of this ordinance, KCK saw significant strides in Historic Preservation efforts and awareness. More recently, the official role of Historic Preservationist in KCK sat vacant for over a decade. During this time the Landmarks Commission, community and Staff did their best to continue the mission, but slowly fell behind in best practices. With the hire of the new Historic Preservationist in 2022, a concerted, consistent effort has been made to honor and celebrate the deep and diverse history of the city for the benefit of all its citizens.

PlanKCK Historic Preservation Plan

Adopted in November 2023, the PlanKCK Citywide Comprehensive Plan included the city's first ever Historic Preservation Plan to help identify projects, plans, and hopes for the future. KCK's history is filled with examples of cooperation incorporation of Quindaro, a community that welcomed people of all origins, to supporting one another through major floods with open arms that has created one of the most diverse counties in the United States. This diversity serves as a foundation for KCK to elevate community prosperity through the rehabilitation of its historic fabric.

Downtown KCK Historic District Designation

The creation of the Downtown KCK Historic District in 2024 was another capstone project that implements many goals of the Historic Preservation Plan. This district acknowledges the importance of Downtown KCK as a center of daily life and brings much needed tax credits to rehabilitate and incentivize the reuse of historic buildings. This district will be a catalyst for economic development in the urban core, and create a space that is friendly to locally minority-owned businesses.

To build off the work of the Historic Preservation Plan and the Downtown Historic District, KCK has partnered with Downtown Shareholder (DTS), the area's certified neighborhood business revitalization organization, to create the first Main Street program in the city. DTS is laying the groundwork for continued regeneration by assisting building owners in the use of Historic Tax Credits, advising on owning historic structures historic buildings, and building capacity to handle Main Street focused projects downtown such as place-making, business marketing and creating programs to draw visitors and residents alike to enjoy.

Historic Preservation Reviews Streamlined

With the strides that KCK has made in preservation in only these past couple years, going from almost nothing to a proactive force, in 2023 the Kansas State Historic Preservation Office entrusted KCK with full control of its historic sites by signing a Memorandum of Understanding that allowed the city to handle all State Law mandated Historic Reviews. The scale of the work done by KCK in 2023-2024 highlights the excitement of the community for Historic Preservation and has created a shift to preserve and enhance the cultural resources of the city to improve the quality of life of its residents.

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