HEARING SLATED FOR CITY HISTORIC DISTRICTS

Two of Cape Girardeau's historic commercial districts could be recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.

The Haarig District and an L-shaped area that includes the 100 blocks of North Main Street and Broadway would be nominated as historic commercial areas under a plan by the city's Historic Preservation Commission.

The commission will discuss the nominations and a historic survey during a public meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall.

A hearing, held at the same time, will address the final acceptance of the city's historic preservation plan, authored by Phillip Thomason of Thomason and Associates.

Thomason said a study of the city's historic areas shows that while some properties are historically significant, they likely wouldn't meet all the eligibility requirements of the National Register.

"It's easier to do a district than individually," he said from his Nashville, Tenn., office.

Most of the buildings along North Main, for example, wouldn't be eligible individually, but "they hang together as a whole" so that people "get a sense of an early 20th century commercial environment," Thomason said.

The National Register districts would only encompass a half block or block of the area being considered for the Old Town Cape program, which is similar to the Main Street program.

"We're not duplicating their program," said City Planner Kent Bratton. The Historic Preservation Commission and the Old Town Cape group will likely work toward the same goals.

"It's all part of the same thing," Thomason said, "to promote reuse of old buildings and spur renewed investments in those areas."

Properties that are nominated for the National Register can receive a 20 percent federal tax credit for rehabilitating the buildings. There is also a 10 percent tax credit for rehabbing buildings built before 1935.

"Most people don't know about those credits," Thomason said. "It rewards those who rehab historic buildings."

Finding all the historic buildings in Cape Girardeau, however, takes more work. The commission is applying for a Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant that would allow it to conduct a survey.

The survey would include an area from Themis Street on the north, Morgan Oak Street on the South, Water Street on the east and Middle Street on the west. Its purpose is to record any historic or architectural interest in the neighborhood.

The commission has been surveying neighborhoods in Cape Girardeau for years, Bratton said, adding: "We're just gradually getting to that area."

When cities apply for National Register sites, typically they look at all the historic buildings in the community. In Cape Girardeau, finding the historic buildings has been done in stages.

"We're working toward some more nominations" and work starts in the oldest areas of the city, said Brian Driscoll, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission. "We're looking for ways to protect what's been identified."