State Historic Preservation Office - Historic Tax Credits, National Register

Once Again, Missouri Ranks First in the Nation!

In 1966, Congress declared that the preservation of historic properties

is in the public interest so that its vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, economic, and energy benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of Americans.

One of the keys to the program mandated by Congress to achieve this goal was the creation in 1966 of a formal National Register of Historic Places. Another key encouraged the creation of state and tribal historic preservation offices. Missouri's State Historic Preservation Office, founded in 1968, was one of the first.

Another key — to unlocking the economic development potential of our cultural resources — was added in 1976, when Congress created a federal tax credit to encourage the rehabilitation of underutilized buildings listed in the National Register.

Missouri got a key of its own in 1997, when the General Assembly led the nation in responding to the downturn in redevelopment by creating a state historic tax credit that could be combined with the federal program.

According to the FY 2007 report by the Department of the Interior's National Park Service, which oversees both the National Register and the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program, Missouri once again ranks

FIRST in the nation with 189 federal historic rehab tax credit projects successfully completed in FY 2007!
FIRST in the nation with almost $535 million in up-front investment in labor and materials for the federal historic rehab tax credit projects completed in FY 2007!
FIRST in the nation with 174 preliminary applications approved in FY 2007!

As Governor Blunt put it in his news release, "Preserving buildings makes that history visible to our children and grandchildren, it draws tourists searching for glimpses of our shared past, it creates jobs for the men and women in the construction industry, and it brings businesses into the state to invest."

This is a great follow-up to FY 2006 when Missouri ranked first in the number of federal historic rehab tax credit projects receiving preliminary approval, FY2005 when Missouri ranked first in the number of federal historic rehab tax credit projects successfully completed and in the number of federal historic rehab tax credit projects receiving preliminary approval... and to FY2004 when Missouri ranked first in all three categories and the National Park Service devoted a full page of its six-page annual report on the tax credits to Missouri's successful program.

You don't have to visit the National Park Service's Web site to see the impact of historic tax credits. Since 1998, state and federal historic rehab tax credits have helped jumpstart development in Arcadia, Boonville, Butler, California, Cape Girardeau, Carthage, Chesterfield, Chillicothe, Clarksville, Columbia, Danville, Excelsior, Farmington, Florissant, Fulton, Hannibal, Hartsburg, Hermann, Independence, Jefferson City, Joplin, Kansas City, King City, Kirkwood, Lexington, Louisiana, Manchester, Maplewood, Neosho, Nevada, New Haven, New Melle, North Kansas City, Osceola, Pilot Grove, Rocheport, Sedalia, St. Charles, St. Joseph, St. Louis, Ste. Genevieve, Springfield, Trenton, University City, West Plains and Wildwood.

In 1966, Congress acknowledged that, whether redeveloping warehouses, raising funds for small museums, or maintaining their own homes, "the major burdens of historic preservation have been borne and major efforts initiated by private agencies and individuals." That remains the case today.

The staff of the State Historic Preservation Office stands ready to assist, but it is private agencies and individuals who decide what makes their community unique and how to preserve it.

Take, for example, the citizens active in the Main Street program in Chillicothe, population 8,966.

Chillicothe's far-sighted business owners made contributions to the Chillicothe Industrial Development Corporation (CIDC) in return for Missouri Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) tax credits. The NAP, administered by Missouri's Department of Economic Development, enables not-for-profit organizations such as the CIDC to raise private-sector funds for approved community improvement projects. One of the first projects on CIDC's list was hiring a consultant to research and prepare a nomination for two Chillicothe districts to the National Register of Historic Places -- not only for the prestige that accompanies the designation, but also as the necessary first step toward the economic development stimulated by the possibility of state and/or federal historic preservation tax credits.

Historic Postcard of Strand Hotel, courtesy Main Street Chillicothe. By the time the NAP project had ended in 2001, the consultant's work was well under way. By summer 2002, after review by staff in the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the nominations were ready for submission to the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

For the citizens appointed by the governor to serve on the advisory council, their quarterly meetings are the culmination of the long hours they've spent reviewing the nominations that will, if approved by them, go on to the federal level for final review. Their meetings — such as the one that will take place in Jefferson City on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008— are a great place to witness citizen participation in the preservation of our "irreplaceable heritage."

At its August 2002 meeting, the advisory council recommended approval of the Chillicothe district nominations and the nominations were forwarded to the Keeper of the Register. Two months later, on Oct. 16, 2002, the Chillicothe Commercial Historic District and the Courthouse Square Historic District were listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Of course, listing on the National Register wasn't the end, but another beginning — a fresh start for underutilized buildings at the heart of town, and a great way for Chillicothe's hard working citizens to encourage others to join them in their efforts.

Today, the town's business leaders can see their efforts beginning to pay off. On Oct. 20, 2005, citizens, business and civic leaders celebrated the grand opening of the Strand Apartments, a rehabilitation of the historic Strand Hotel by Carlson Gardner, Inc., a Missouri corporation headquartered 200 miles south of town, into into 32 apartments and a gallery / library with Internet access!

It is the community's can-do attitude, as well as financial incentives such as the state and federal historic tax credits made available by the listing of those buildings as contributing elements in National Register districts that drew Carlson Gardner to Chillicothe. They don't plan to leave now that the project is complete. Developer Tom Carlson told the St. Joseph News-Press, "Hopefully we'll be a good corporate citizen for years to come."

In Chillicothe that's likely to mean working to help attract more residential and commercial occupants for downtown buildings, to help enhance the facades of those buildings, or to study the code enforcement for historic buildings -- those are just a few of the projects on the community's "to-do" list!

Similar "can-do" communities are spread across the state. With the addition of Cottleville
Missouri's list of federally Certified Local Governments has grown to 44. Developers have completed historic rehab tax credit projects in communities from Arcadia, Boonville, Butler and Carthage through Hannibal, Hermann and Louisiana to Warrensburg, Washington, West Plains and Wildwood!