2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE 2010-2014 KENTUCKY STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION PLAN 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan Photo courtesy of Jody Robinson, Bellevue Renaissance Committee Main Street Manager and Bellevue Certified Local Government Coordinator. The 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan was produced by the Kentucky Heritage Council, the Kentucky State Historic Preservation Office. The Kentucky Heritage Council is an agency of the Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet. Cover photo: A tour at Woodford Distillery (Labrot & Graham Distillery), a National Historic Landmark located in Woodford County. Photo taken by author in 2009. Title page photo: Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue, 2009. Belleview is a certified local government located in northern Kentucky. The Bellevue Main Street Program offers several promotional programs throughout the year. Featured here, Shop Bellevue. 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan Acknowledgements We offer sincere appreciation to those who participated in the creation of this plan. A heartfelt thanks goes to the local organizations and city governments that contributed time, space, and money to host the preservation plan public meetings in February and March 2009. These groups include: the Southern and Eastern Kentucky Tourism Development Association (SEKTDA), the Historic Railpark Train Museum, the City of Bowling Green, the Landmark Association of Bowling Green-Warren County, the City of Lexington, Paducah Renaissance Alliance, Morehead Tomorrow, Inc., the Morehead Conference Center, the Frazier International History Museum, Louisville Main Street, Renaissance Covington, and the City of Covington. Others who note mention for their generous efforts include Preservation Kentucky, Inc., Preservation Louisville, and Jody Robinson, Bellevue Assistant City Administrator and Manager of the Bellevue Main Street Program. This document was written and produced by Wendy Wheatcraft, KHC Planning & Research Coordinator. Contributors include Patrick Kennedy, Peggy Guier, Scot Walters, Lynn Webb, Bill Macintire, Marty Perry, Tressa Brown, Gwynn Henderson, David Pollack, Phil Mink, Diane Comer, and Mark Dennen. This publication has been financed in part with federal funds administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Park Service. All programs receiving federal funding operate free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, or disability. Any person who believes that he or she has been discriminated against should write to: Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20240 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan Vision Statement Kentucky’s cultural places are irreplaceable resources essential to the economic, environmental, social, and cultural sustainability of our communities. The state’s unique heritage resources are integral to our identity and sense of place. State and federal agencies, neighborhoods, municipalities, non-profit organizations, Certified Local Governments, Main Street programs, and individuals will work in partnership to protect, preserve, and use our resources to build thriving local economies, provide jobs, create affordable housing, conserve natural resources, encourage tourism, and adopt a greater understanding and appreciation of our shared heritage. Kentuckians will be empowered with the knowledge, legal and financial tools, technical skills, and political will to support a balance between economic stability and appropriate development, as communities plan for inevitable change. Together, we will build a preservation culture that incorporates education and stewardship, as we plan for the future. 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan Foreword Every five years the Kentucky Heritage Council takes an in-depth look at the current conditions and future plans for preservation across the Commonwealth. For the past year, we have been gathering and analyzing information. I am now pleased to present the 2010- 2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan. For any planning document to be functional and dynamic, a collaboration of all interested parties is needed. Toward this effort, the Kentucky Heritage Council collected comments and suggestions at public meetings across the state, as well as through an online survey and other meetings with private and public individuals. Issues have been identified and assessed, and opportunities analyzed from which new goals and strategies have been carefully defined. Kentucky has always had a strong focus on preserving its historic and cultural resources, but there are still considerable challenges to be met. Changes in the economic climate, recent shifts in urban and suburban development patterns, and lack of concerted community planning efforts throughout the state are a few of the major issues identified that endanger our irreplaceable historic and prehistoric assets. The 2010-2014 plan was written from a pragmatic point of view to assist the Kentucky Heritage Council in performing federal and state-mandated responsibilities, but it is also intended to assist all those who live in, work with, and plan for Kentucky’s unique historic buildings, structures, sites, districts, objects, cultural landscapes and archaeological resources. The citizens of Kentucky are heirs to an extraordinary legacy—our historic and prehistoric places. We believe this document will be of assistance to those Kentuckians who have taken on the responsibility of protecting and preserving our heritage. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the 2010-2014 Plan. This will guide us through the next five years and make us better stewards of Kentucky’s cultural resources. By providing us with your concerns and recommendations, we have gained a clearer understanding of how to prioritize actions to make preservation efforts more successful and to ensure that Kentucky does not lose the great heritage we have been given. Executive Director, Kentucky Heritage Council and State Historic Preservation Officer 2010-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan Table of Contents Chapter 1: Starting the Planning Process Page 1 Introduction 1 Public Involvement 4 Survey Results 4 At-Risk Resources 9 Chapter 2: Trends Affecting Historic Preservation 12 Population 12 Housing 15 Economic Trends 18 Government 25 Environmental Trends 36 Travel & Tourism 42 Technology 47 Chapter 3: A Summary of Kentucky’s History, Providing a Context for Cultural Resources 50 Chapter 4: Kentucky’s Cultural Resources 66 Resource Types 66 Archaeological Site Classification in Kentucky 67 Prehistoric Resources 67 Historic Resources 69 Chapter 5: Preservation Programs 84 Chapter 6: A Five-Year Vision for Historic Preservation in Kentucky 126 Vision Statement 126 2010-2014 Goals, Strategies, & Action Items 128 Conclusion 139 CHAPTER 1: STARTING THE PLANNING PROCESS Introduction preservation conserves embodied energy and diminishes the need for new raw materials, conserves open space In the end, we will conserve only what and lessens pressures for development we love. We will love only what we on the urban fringe, reduces waste in understand. We will understand only landfills, spurs economic growth, is what we are taught. more labor intensive than new construction, supplies affordable Baba Dioum housing, encourages social interaction (Senegalese poet and naturalist) and civic engagement, and provides a strong sense of place and identity that Communities across Kentucky promote contributes to psychological well being, historic preservation because it historic preservation directly contributes enhances quality of life, minimizes to environmental, economic, social, and negative impacts on the environment, cultural sustainability. and yields economic rewards. From rural cultural landscapes, like the Well before the National Historic Perryville Battlefield in Boyle County to Preservation Act was enacted by urban districts, like the Butchertown Congress in 1966, Kentucky citizens Historic District in Louisville, our historic worked together to protect their historic and cultural resources provide a strong buildings and landmarks. Grassroots vehicle for social and cultural renewal preservationists were among the first to and present a powerful tool for question the impacts of unrestricted economic growth. Cultural resources development and unplanned growth on maintain community identity and make our cities, towns, and natural the Commonwealth a unique place to environment. Initial efforts focused live. Protecting our historic places is mostly on saving individual historic essential to the future sustainability of properties from being destroyed. Kentucky communities. Today, there is a realization that historic preservation efforts affect, and are Today, sustainability is directly linked to affected by, land use decisions. the “green movement,” but it’s much more than environmental responsibility. Some Kentucky community leaders It includes cultural, social, and economic have come to the understanding that consciousness and accountability. The historic preservation is the key to wise most widely accepted definition of community land use planning. sustainability is taken from the United Incorporating the identification and Nations Bruntland Commission’s 1987 evaluation of historic and cultural places report, Our Common Future. It defines into comprehensive