Historic Commission protecting downtown
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Meetings of the Rogers Historic District Commission are quick and businesslike, but the group makes decisions that will affect the entire city. By protecting the historic look of downtown Rogers, commissioners may be protecting much more.
"It's important to the whole community," Commission President Ed McClure said. "Our history is our soul."
The commission isn't interested in what happens inside the businesses, McClure explained; rather, the interest is only in what can be seen from the street.
The Historic Commission was established by city ordinance in 2004. Since then the six commissioners have overseen a specific area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The staff of Main Street Rogers serve as the staff of the commission.
The boundaries of the Historic District were established long before the commission existed. The boundaries were set when the area was accepted by the National Register in 1988, but were expanded in 1993, 1998 and 2002. It includes the central part of downtown.
The guidelines that govern commission decisions are available at the Main Street office or on their Web site. Sara Mason, promotions coordinator for Main Street, summed them up.
"Any changes that are made need to make the building appear as it did when it was originally built," Mason said. Many business owners consult the staff at the Rogers Historical Museum if there's any question about how their building originally looked, Mason said.
When building owners get ready to make a change, they need to obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness from the commission. There are three levels of certificates, McClure explained.
Level one is routine maintenance, which the Main Street staff can approve.
Level two is exterior changes that don't affect surrounding property and the commission will consider them in relation to the guidelines.
Level three changes are exterior changes that affect surrounding property and that requires a public hearing in addition to commission approval.
Like McClure, most of the commissioners have a business in downtown Rogers. They are appointed by the mayor with City Council confirmation. Four of the six commissioners have been on board since the commission was formed. Three of them are traveling to Tulsa soon for the National Preservation Conference.
"If people don't know about (the Historic District Commission ), it means we're not terrorizing people," McClure said. "People are willing to invest in our downtown district. We want to know that these old buildings will be maintained."
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