Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City has opportunity to cash in on history

The Arkansas Parks Department has begun an initiative to create downtown historic districts. There are several benefits for property owners, both inside the district and in the surrounding area - and the most important benefit is probably the opportunity for publicity.

Prescott's downtown could be headed for just such a historic designation. Property owners in the downtown area were invited to an informational meeting regarding the possibility of the historic designation last week.

Those who met with representatives from the parks department seemed to be in agreement that a historic designation would be a positive move for downtown Prescott. Other cities with that designation use it to promote tourism.

Both state and national parks departments maintain and promote a list of historic places for tourism, but representatives of the state parks department said the main advantage is as a "tool" to be used to promote a

particular area.

There are several myths about historic designations, according to Mark Christ, representative of the Arkansas Parks Department.

Some people believe that having a historic designation means that the

building must be opened to the public. Christ said that's not true. It's

also not true that the state will demand that the property owner maintain or make specific repairs to a building that has a historic designation.

And finally, he said there are no limitations to what can be done with

historic property. The only potential impact of altering the property is that it could result in removal from the historic list.

One of the benefits of creating a historic district is that buildings that

may not qualify for the list of historic places on it's own merit may be included as a "contributing property" for the district. In the case of the Prescott district, the downtown district will include an array of buildings, most with building dates between the late 1800s and the 1950s.

The next step is gathering approval from property owners. In this case, any property owner in the designated district has a "vote" in the process.

Unless at least half the property owners approve of the move, the process won't progress to a next step. It's important to note that all property

owners have a single "vote," regardless of how many properties they own and even if the property isn't a contributing property that fits the profile of the district.

Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary Godwin said she's contacting property owners for input.

If property owners approve the idea, the parks department will then head in to its next phase. For any historic designation, a proposal must be submitted to the state and national level. In this case, the parks department will handle that task.

The proposed district for Prescott includes the Nevada County Courthouse and the majority of the two blocks west toward the railroad tracks. The remainder of the district is on the west side of the tracks - four blocks that include the block of downtown merchants. A copy of the map is available at the chamber office. For more information, contact Godwin at 887-2101.