“Size Matters”

There is some encouragement in Independence for the proposal to expand the existing Harry S Truman National Historic Landmark (NHL) District. Expanded boundaries were first drawn almost ten years ago (see map) by the National Park Service (NPS) and were intended to cover more properties connected to the story of President Truman. If you examine the current proposed boundaries and compare them to boundaries first presented to the community you will notice that it got smaller. Here in Independence, we actually have a history of one of the nation’s only shrinking historic districts. But why did the NPS shrink the proposed NHL district expansion? The most noticeable bite taken out the original plan happens to be in the SW corner adjacent to the Community of Christ Church properties, which ironically represents our community’s most significant and visible investments led by the Midtown / Truman Road Corridor (M/TRC) Neighborhood Revitalization Corporation. Did M/TRC and City Hall support too many demolitions during this work? M/TRC standards for their activities including their tax abatement program include adherence to federal historic preservation standards. So if federal standards were really followed during redevelopment, then why did the NPS remove these blocks from their proposed federal district? Because of this omission, those property owners will not be eligible for current or future federal and state financial assistance programs for historic properties. Will this encourage further reinvestment? These blocks are only a half a block from the Truman Home National Historic Site and include properties connected to the Truman’s. It appears to me that significant public investments in programs do not guarantee their successes (sound familiar?). With the limited resources available for historic neighborhoods, it is most critical that tax dollars are spent wisely and effectively. In this case, were we smart with our public investments? From the perspective of our nation’s assets, it appears not, but I guess we will let history be the judge.

Santa-Cali-(is)-Gone

Yes, it was Santa-Cali-Gon time again in Independence. And yes, attendance appeared to be up (along with the BMI of the average attendee). And of course, it’s the festival named after and intended to celebrate our pioneer trails heritage but does nothing to promote this important history. As successful as one may judge this 4-day festival to be, the fact is that it promotes undeveloped space and blighted asphalt parking lots for the remaining 361 days of the year. The blighted empty parking lot owned by Bank of America (8-29-09 blog entry) looked even worst this year than last. The pile of brush and weeds that was in the middle of the lot wasn’t even cleaned out. The good church-folks that got permission from the bank to sale parking places there just shoved the debris to the corner towards the street to optimize the number of parking spaces (while minimizing their clean-up efforts). The bank didn’t even bother to mow the grass. If the Independence Chamber of Commerce would just pull the blinds on their windows and, of course, open their eyes, they would see this. The rusty strands of barbed wire that protect(?) this lot actually extend within a few feet of playground equipment for Hillcrest Ministries youth. Yes, Hillcrest is located on the NE corner of Spring & White Oak Streets which happens to be within the proposed expanded Truman National Historic Landmark District boundaries. Ironically, Hillcrest Ministries has no off-street parking for their patrons. No, this is not just about historic preservation. It’s about being a good neighborhood, public safety, economic development, and raising the bar with respect to community stewardship. We need community values we can “bank” on.