Midtown Rallies For Kansas City Norman School Historic District

A peek at our favorite preservationists hoping to turn the tide against tear downs . . . 

Historic Kansas City: SUPPORT THE VALENTINE NEIGHBORHOOD 

HISTORIC KANSAS CITY supports the Valentine Neighborhood Association, which has applied for the local designation for a new district called the Norman School Historic District. 

The Proposed Norman School Historic District received unanimous support from Kansas City's Historic Preservation Commission back in June, and the City Plan Commission forwarded the proposal to City Council without issuing a recommendation. TOMORROW, Tuesday, October 21st, the Neighborhood Planning and Development Committee of the KCMO City Council will hear Ordinance No. 250871, which would designate the area as a local Historic District on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places.

The District encompasses three blocks bounded by 35th Street to Valentine Road and the west side of Pennsylvania to the east side of Summit Street (Southwest Trafficway).

The district includes 60 contributing resources constructed between 1902 and 1929, including a diverse collection of homes and apartment buildings. Local historic designation would implement protective measures against additional building demolitions, and it would bring a further level of recognition to our community. The Valentine Neighborhood has also made preliminary steps toward listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which would establish eligibility for property owners to seek state and federal rehabilitation incentives.

The new proposed district is just south of the blocks where Kansas City Life Insurance Company recently demolished 23 buildings without any concrete plans for redevelopment; four more buildings, 20 residential units in all, have been demolished in the last two weeks after Kansas City Life Insurance sought to have buildings under their ownership designated by the City as dangerous. 

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Developing . . .