Planning for Preservation: The Arkansas Historic Preservation Plan 2018-2022

"An antebellum home in south Arkansas. A Civil War battlefield in the northwest. A cemetery on Crowley's Ridge. An Indian mound in the Delta. Historic main streets and neighborhoods across the state. These are the places that define us as a state and a people. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, a division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage, works to see that these places will be around for future generations to enjoy. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program (AHPP) is the division of the Department of Arkansas Heritage charged with preserving the buildings, sites, neighborhoods, and structures that constitute the state's built heritage. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program documents and registers the state's cultural resource treasures and provides grants, tax credits, and technical assistance to help the guardians of these places ensure their survival and leverage investments that pay dividends in skilled employment and enhanced property values locally and statewide. Through the Main Street Arkansas program, the AHPP works to bring new vitality to the historic commercial centers that serve as economic development generators in their communities. The division works with federal, state, and local government agencies to protect the past even as we work together toward a prosperous future. The AHPP offers tours, workshops and publications to foster new understand and appreciation of the places that provide us with tangible links to our past. Every five years, the staff at the AHPP reviews their work over the previous five-year period, develops and examines information to assess current trends related to Arkansas's historic and cultural properties, and works to develop goals and objectives to guide its efforts for preservation of Arkansas's precious cultural resources as it moves into the next five-year period. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established a national historic preservation program predicated on a partnership between Federal and State governments. In this system, each state takes the lead in the preservation of its historic properties through identification, evaluation, registration, grants, incentives and other programs support in part by federal grant funds administered by the National Park Service. In 2017-18, the AHPP produced this comprehensive statewide preservation plan, which will be in effect from 2018-2023, as a part of this program. This plan will guide the AHPP's undertakings of the next five years, but also is intended to guide and inform the efforts in the state's preservation community. This plan is based on the experience of the AHPP's staff in the field, research-based metrics developed through studies and data collection, and constituent contributions. It includes analysis of the current context for preservation of historic resources in the state - the economic and social pressures and opportunities for practicing preservation in Arkansas - and an exploration of the AHPP's existing programs and potential new initiatives to enhance the quality of life of all Arkansans by preserving our heritage resources. This plan is intended to work in conjunction with the AHPP's annual action plans and its goals and initiatives are informed by the strategic plan and core values of the AHPP's parent agency, the Department of Arkansas Heritage. In developing the plan, the AHPP sought public participation through community 'listening sessions' in six cities and through an online survey, in addition to relying on internal data and expertise. Some areas of strong agreement were clear in the survey and listening session responses. Those points are noted throughout the body of the plan where relevant." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, Department of Arkansas Heritage, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Planning for Preservation: The Arkansas Historic Preservation Plan 2018-2022

See also

Collections