Due to its sheer size, it’s taking the city some time to get the recently completed Historic Resources Survey up on its website.  So until that time, I’m providing it here in full for your perusal. Just be aware, it’s a big ol’ PDF file.

Beyond the sections of wonk-ish methodology, the report also offers a lot of info that could be of interest to any city resident.  Like what?  Like parcel-level maps and summations of Decatur’s many existing and potential historic areas, (Is your home “historic”?  Check the maps!) along with a developmental history of Decatur and a list of the city’s “landmark buildings”.

The map above indicates all the districts in the city that – by the strict 50-year rule definition – could be deemed historic at the national or local level in bluish green.  Existing local and national historic districts are in red.  Decatur has so much historic residential, it’s actually easier to summarize the large non-historic areas:  the now urban-renewal showcase that was once “Beacon Hill”, the Decatur Cemetery, East Decatur Station and Decatur Heights.  See?

I’ve included full list of “landmark” buildings after the jump.  And because I’m such a nice guy, I’ve even provided direct links to visuals of every building on the list via Google Streetview.  (Make sure to check out 303 Fifth Ave.  I never knew that house even existed and it’s freakin’ awesome!)

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At last night’s city commission meeting, the commission accepted a detailed Historic Resources Survey of Decatur (page 15 of pdf), compiled by Keystone Preservation Associates and Morrison Design, LLC.

At a cost of $35,000, the months-long survey, which documented every single parcel within the city limits, was one of the outcomes of the ugly clash between residents, city boards, cats and dogs over a proposed Oakhurst Historic District in 2007.  Among the many aspects of the initiative that confused and angered all parties was a lack of information on historic inventory within the neighborhood.

So the city ponied up the dough and funded an extensive survey that documented the entire city.  According to a letter to the commission by Planning Director Amanda Thompson…

This report will help the city move forward with several long term preservation goals including awareness and appreciation of Decatur’s historic resources by making the survey results available online and determining a timeline and cost proposal for creation of National Register listings.  We will also use the report to explore the world of heritage tourism and if that is a market the city is interested in pursuing.

Missing from the city’s stated goals is any mention of the creation of any additional local historic districts, which is the only way to physically regulate design in a neighborhood. (National Register status mainly provides tax incentives to residents to rehab property and creates red-tape for federal government-funded development)

That said, a portion of the survey was included among last night’s meeting materials and identifies 13 neighborhoods inside the city limits that would be eligible for some form of historic designation.  They are… Read the rest of this entry »

At tonight’s city commission meeting, the city is scheduled to award the historic resources survey to Keystone Preservation Associates and Morrison Design.

The $35,000 project will document all properties in Decatur outside of the historic districts with a digital photograph and a “property inventory sheet”. Once the survey is complete, Keystone and Morrison will produce a final report and public presentation of their findings and make recommendations for what is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

The project was conceived back in 2007, when controversy surrounding the proposed Oakhurst Historic District was even more confused by the fact that the city had no complete database of its built environment.