Cultural Resource Survey Plan: A Framework for Historic Resource Survey in Kirksville

Preservation Solutions LLC

Introduction: "A city can take steps to protect its significant historic resources only if it knows what it has. Thus a cultural resource survey is a basic building block for any local preservation program. Information gathered through survey can form the foundation for nearly every decision affecting a city‘s historic buildings and neighborhoods; guiding the planning, maintenance, and investment decisions of city officials, property owners, neighborhood groups, and developers. Furthermore, it can have the more intangible benefit of raising awareness and community pride among citizens. To aid Kirksville‘s development and transformation in the future, the City should continue to implement public policy promoting historic preservation. When integrated into the planning process and targeted at identifiable areas, historic preservation provides a level of certainty and permanence that is necessary to attract investment. Preserved neighborhoods create stability of population, a greater tax base, and less drain on City services. The inventory and evaluation of community resources is the principal step to developing local private and public programs that not only preserve important historic properties, but also utilize preservation as a tool for economic development and the revitalization of older neighborhoods and commercial centers. This survey plan should be viewed as a road map of the various procedural requirements and technical components of historic resources survey. It is both a reference for the survey process, as well as a framework of the tools and best practices for accomplishing a survey. This report can and should be used by the City's Planning and Zoning Department and Historic Preservation Commission in the future formulation of budgets, when requesting grants, and in the development of comprehensive master plans. This plan, and the explanations and recommendations presented here, will streamline the process for the City of Kirksville as it implements future survey efforts." Funding was provided in part by a 2010 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Kirksville (project number MO-10-024) administered by the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 29-10-21932) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Kirksville, Missouri is a Certified Local Government.

Cultural Resource Survey Plan: A Framework for Historic Resource Survey in Kirksville

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