This year’s Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference is taking place in Kansas City, Missouri! At conference you will find new ideas for making places meaningful and working with your community to become a place that everyone can call home as well as attend amazing events to both inspire you and recognize communities across Missouri for the revitalization they have accomplished.

Tour of Downtown Kansas City

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 – 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

This walking tour starts in the Kansas City Marriott Downtown lobby with attendees meeting at 12:45 pm with their tickets. You will explore the great places throughout downtown Kansas City experiencing an uptick in growth.  We will take advantage of the streetcar and then walk a short distance to some of the impressive projects we will see. All of the projects will be examples of adaptive re-use projects that have created both commercial and residential space rejuvenating the area. There are a number of Historic Tax Credit projects that we will see—and we may even get a sweet treat on the way! Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!

Tickets available, until sold out, online ($20) until July 25 and onsite at the conference registration office.

Guided Scavenger Hunt with Prizes through Downtown Kansas City

Wednesday, August 3, 2022 – 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm;

This adventurous tour starts in Kansas City Marriott Downtown lobby with attendees meeting at 12:45 pm with their tickets. You will explore the unique sites and architecture that make downtown Kansas City one of a kind. Using the streetcar, attendees will explore historic and cultural sites while making a game of the tour to see who can find the most sites or architectural features within the time allowed. The group will stop off at several areas along the streetcar route to allow participants to explore and find clues while learning about Kansas City’s history. Prizes will be awarded in several categories and will be announced soon.

Tickets available, until sold out, online ($20) until July 25 and onsite at the conference registration office.

May is Preservation Month, the annual celebration of history, culture, and special places, designed to raise awareness about the power that historic preservation has to protect and enhance our historic communities. It’s the celebration of places that are meaningful to us. It is the telling of stories of the places we can’t live without.

In many Missouri communities, the old and new live side by side. Historic buildings not only give a community character but also emphasize sustainability. The preservation of unique neighborhoods containing historic landmarks ignites economic development and enriches communities. From first dates to family dinners and shopping trips to nights on the town, America’s thriving historic main streets are where we come together and share experiences that shape our lives and communities.¹

WE’RE CELEBRATING MISSOURI’S TREASURES

In partnership with the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), we are launching the #MoPlacesMatter campaign to raise awareness of Missouri’s historic treasures and their vital role in sustaining local communities. Over select dates in May, our Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show² will visit four historic sites in Missouri dedicated to preserving our state’s historic resources and nine Missouri communities dedicated to preserving and revitalizing their historic districts to further enrich their communities and celebrate their heritage. Our campaign coincides with the #ThisPlaceMatters³ nationwide celebration observed by small towns and big cities with events ranging from architectural scavenger hunts and historic site tours to educational programs and heritage travel opportunities.

Southeast Missouri State University students learning how Historic Preservation and Main Street work together.  

Preservation Month is a great time to learn more about the activities going on around you in your community and state. The Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show is our project to engage the public in preserving historic places and increasing awareness of their role in sustaining local communities. Through the project, we hope to encourage Missouri citizens to learn more about the history surrounding them, discover new sites and communities, and understand the importance of preserving our history and historic places for generations to come. Think about the places in your community that mean the most to you. What are the “must see” or “must experience” places you take visitors from out of town? What places do you think about when you’re away from home and tell other people about your home town? How would your community change if these places were suddenly lost or modified beyond recognition?⁴

WE’RE HITTING THE ROAD TO VISIT THESE PLACES

The following communities and historic sites (selected by popular vote) are stops along the 2018 Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show. You can download the complete schedule here.

Cape Girardeau – Old Town Cape, Inc.

Chillicothe – Main Street Chillicothe

Excelsior Springs – Downtown Excelsior Springs Partnership

Independence – Harry S Truman National Historic Site

Jackson – Uptown Jackson Revitalization Organization

Jefferson City – Missouri Governor’s Mansion

Kansas City – Thomas Hart Benton Home & Studio State Historic Site

Lee’s Summit – Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, Inc.

Liberty – Historic Downtown Liberty, Inc.

Mansfield – Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum

Moberly – Main Street Moberly

Warrensburg – Warrensburg Main Street

Washington – Downtown Washington Inc.

Follow one of the official Celebrate Preservation Month Road Show cars to the places that matter to you! 

In addition to joining us on our Road Show, here are a few more things you can do to participate in Preservation Month⁵:

• Read up on your community’s history.
• Talk to preservationists and learn more about their ideas for your community.
• Find out or review what properties or neighborhoods your community has listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
• Review the web pages of your local main street or downtown revitalization program, regional heritage area, and State Historic Preservation Organization (SHPO).
• Take a tour of a rehabilitated building in your community such as a restored historic theater, historic courthouse or municipal building, or a historic school or commercial building converted to apartments or offices.
• Take a walk around a nearby historic residential area or shop/dine in a historic commercial district.
• Take a field trip to a nearby community with a strong historic preservation ethic or main street program.
• Visit the Preservation Month web pages of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Park Service, and National Register of Historic Places.
• Participate in other local Historic Preservation Month activities.

¹Quote by Stephanie Meeks, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

²This activity is partially funded by a grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office, and the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Grant awards do not imply an endorsement of contents by the grantor. Federal laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, age, handicap or ethnicity. For more information, write to the Office of Equal Opportunity, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington DC 20240.

³#ThisPlaceMatters is the annual campaign created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

^{4, 5}"Preservation Can Be Inspiring – This Month (and Every Month),” by Amy Faca, May 7, 2013.

As our Main Street leaders depart from a meeting with the White House on rural placemaking, it reminds me that our downtowns provide a “living room” for the community. It is the gathering place for celebrations, protests, mournings and traditions. A lot has taken place these past few days that re-enforces that concept. The attacks in Paris have brought people to the public squares to mourn as a people but also to demonstrate resolve for the freedom to assemble. As we prepare for the holiday season of both Thanksgiving and Christmas, downtowns are preparing for lighting ceremonies and parades. 

Communities for centuries have used the public squares, courthouse lawns and city parks in downtowns to gather for all sorts of purposes. The town crier used to make announcements from the city center, election results were distributed from the courthouse steps, and funerals would wind through the downtown streets to the local cemetery. Today’s downtowns provide the same opportunities with parades through downtown streets, movies on the courthouse lawn, music in the park and festivals lining the streets. All of these activities bring a community together to get to know one another better, to have neighborly conversations, and to cordially debate local and national issues face-to-face instead of from behind a computer screen. We need these downtown outlets for a community to be a community. So, get out there and enjoy your community’s living room.

(This blog post also reminds me of the awesome experience I had to spend some time with my community in Kansas City to celebrate the Kansas City Royals winning of the World Series. I joined the over 800,000 neighbors that gathered with their families in the city center—our living room in Kansas City—to celebrate our boys in blue. And I might add that with over 800,000 people gathered, only three non-neighborly folks were arrested for misbehaving. So again, get out and enjoy your downtown living room.)