Historic in the making

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]

After years of research, hours of meetings with business owners and the removal process of the concrete canopy on Broadway underway, Carrie Gartner and Debbie Sheals might finally see a large portion of downtown Columbia named as a National Historic District.

The only thing standing in the way for the 102 buildings in the downtown area to be considered for a National Historic District designation is the much-talked about and current removal of the canopy that has been attached to building facades since the 1960s.

“Nationally, towns are becoming more and more generic, and we have to give people a reason to come to our town or come downtown,” said Gartner, Special Business District director and Downtown Columbia Associations director. “We are lucky to have all the history and uniqueness in Columbia, and it will be nice to be recognized on a national level for it.”

But time is of the essence for the city because all sections of the canopy must be removed before Aug. 15 for its application for historical status to be considered by the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

If not, the city would have to wait another three months because the council only reviews applications quarterly.

Sheals, a historic preservation consultant, said she thinks the remaining sections of the canopy will be down in about two weeks, as long as there are no delays.

“I watched them take down one section of the canopy in half a day,” Sheals said. “It is a pretty modular construction so it comes down fairly easy. Originally, we thought two weeks per city block, but it is coming down faster than that.”

Once the canopy is down, the city will take the final pictures of the buildings. These pictures will allow the council to decide whether to either reject or approve the city’s application. If the application is approved at the state council, it will then be sent to the national committee for further review and possible approval.

“We do not have to wait for the business owners to repair the facades,” said Sheals. “You can list pretty beat up buildings that haven’t been restored on the registry as long as they are historic buildings. They do not have to be beautiful.”

The final costs for the property owners totaled $133,800 to remove the canopy, which does not include the costs to repair the facades of the building.

Not all the buildings in the district are applying for historical status, however. There are 21 buildings that are already listed on the national register. Of the 81 remain buildings, 61 would receive historical status as part of the district, and 19 are nonhistoric but found in the historic district. The Second Boone County Courthouse columns would also be listed on the national register as a structure.

To qualify for historical status, a building must be over 50 years old and be mostly intact from when it was built.

More than 60 percent of downtown Columbia’s buildings are more than fifty years old. The oldest building in Columbia is the Hays Hardware store at 812 E. Broadway. Notable buildings include two historic post offices, the 1932 municipal building and the Boone County Courthouse.

Other historic commercial buildings are the Tiger Hotel, the Tiger Barber Shop and Booches Billiard Hall.

Sheals has been researching the history of all the buildings in the district for years to determine which buildings can be listed and to see if there were enough buildings to make a historic district.

As a result of her efforts, Sheals has prepared a detailed summary of the history of every building in the district, which will be included in the application. It includes the buildings’ original functions, construction dates and any renovations to the building.

“We have a cohesive enough group to have a historical district but Broadway is a pivotal role so we needed to get the canopy down,” Sheals said.

One of the advantages to having downtown Columbia listed as a historic district is because buildings that would like to remodel their buildings can receive tax incentives.

“Many property owners have always been interested in getting portions of downtown Columbia in the national register but they were wary of the rehab work,” Sheals said. “These tax credits give them an incentive to look into rehab options.”

Charlie Kurre, co-owner of Booches, which opened in 1884, said he thinks a historic designation would help his business for tax purposes but that it would be a not be a selling point for Booches.

“People don’t come here because it’s historic,” Kurre said. “They come because we have a product they like. It might help a museum or grand mansion but for a pool hall it won’t matter much because already have our niche in society.”

Boone County National Bank said the bank did not wait to receive any tax credits from the historic designation to rehab its buildings, which include the Heinkel building and the building that houses Fellini’s and CJ’s. After the bank removed the canopy, the bank fixed a couple holes in the side of the building and is planning to put up cloth awnings.

“We were lucky in that there wasn’t that much damage,” said Mary Wilkerson, vice president of marketing for Boone County National Bank. “You can approach repairing the facades a lot of different ways and some folks had to be more creative than we had to be.”

Bingham’s owner David Danuser said his canopy has been down for about two years and he did not have to do much rehabilitation because his building was in pretty good shape.

He said he does not think the historical designation will increase his business.

“While the historical status will not directly effect my business, I think it will definitely enhance the downtown area and add to the ambiance of downtown,” Danuser said. “Without the canopy, you can see individual stores and there is a lot more color and uniqueness.”

Sheals said her research of over 75 other cities with similarly large historic districts showed positive results from receiving such status.

“It is a proven thing that it increases tourism,” Sheals said. “It spurs people to invest in their property because they pay attention to what they have or recognize what they have. The work tends to be done carefully to preserve the building.”

Gartner said the historic designation would be great to emphasize when marketing Columbia as a historic destination.

“When you go on vacation you do not go to the Old Navy in town,” Gartner said. “You look to go to the cute and unique areas.”