Lutheran Development Group has announced that they will begin collecting data for a potential new National Historic District in southeastern Dutchtown and Mount Pleasant. Survey workers will venture out across the neighborhood beginning on January 27th, kicking off the registration process in earnest.
The proposed district aims to bridge gaps between several existing National Historic Districts covering other sections of the Greater Dutchtown neighborhood. The survey area lies east of Virginia Avenue, spanning from Meramec Street to the north, Bates Street to the south, and Interstate 55 and South Broadway to the east.
The survey area for the proposed Mount Pleasant Historic District. Existing historic districts surrounding the survey area are shaded gray.
What to Expect in the Neighborhood
Survey workers will disperse across the neighborhood to gather data on the buildings in the survey area. Workers will document information on the age, condition, style, and architectural features of each building. They will also be photographing buildings from the sidewalk. If you see someone in an orange vest walking around with a clipboard and a camera, you’ve spotted a survey worker!
Several examples of the widely varied historic architecture on just one block of the proposed Mount Pleasant historic district.
The survey is limited to exterior assessments. Not to worry—workers won’t be knocking on your door to ask questions and peek inside. As a neighbor, you don’t have to do anything.
What Not to Expect
It’s very important to note here that a National Historic District does not place any additional obligations on property owners unless they pursue historic tax credits. No new rules, regulations, design standards, or rehab requirements will apply. You can do as you wish with your property—within existing laws and property codes, of course—unless you seek historic tax credits for your project. We’ll discuss the details a bit more below, but rest assured that no one will tell you what color you have to paint your window trim or what material you must use to build your fence.
What Are the Benefits of a Historic District?
Listing on the National Register of Historic Places acknowledges the history and importance of preservation of the built environment in the district. Placement on the National Register indicates the historical importance of a place, whether it be distinguished for its architecture or events, broad or narrow, that occurred there.
Additionally, properties listed on the National Register are eligible for various state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits and historic preservation grants. With the availability of alternative funding like tax credits and grants, historic districts may see increased investment and development activity as project financing and rehab work becomes more financially viable.
Historic Tax Credits for Large-Scale Development
While credits and grants are available for historic preservation, they are generally used for larger projects. Because of the expertise and legwork required to apply for and acquire incentives, the average homeowner usually doesn’t pursue credits or grants for a modest home rehab project. The incentives provide more bang for their buck when applied to bigger buildings or a set of properties being redeveloped as a single project.
3305 Meramec Street, part of Lutheran Development Group’s Marquette Homes project that will utilize historic tax credits.
For example, Lutheran Development Group’s Marquette Homes development encompasses nine sites in Dutchtown and Gravois Park, all of which lie within the Gravois-Jefferson Historic District. Most of the sites contain historic buildings. Leveraging historic tax credits across multiple properties, LDG will be able to carefully rehab and preserve these buildings while staying within a budget that keeps the rehabbed properties affordable for future neighbors.
Existing National Historic Districts in and around Dutchtown.
Historic Tax Credits for Small-Scale Rehabs
All of that being said, if your property is listed within a National Historic District and the work you plan to do exceeds 50% of the cost of the property at the time of purchase, you can apply for historic tax credits. But be warned: the complexity of the application process can be daunting. It is strongly recommended that you consult with a historic preservation specialist and an accountant to guide you through the process.
This home on Meramec Street was extensively rehabbed with the help of historic tax credits.
National Historic Districts vs. Local Historic Districts
It bears emphasis: the proposed new district around Mount Pleasant would be a National Historic District, not a Local Historic District. This is an important distinction that property owners in the survey area should be aware of.
National Historic Districts do not place new restrictions on the development, construction, rehabilitation, modification, use, transfer, or demolition of buildings within the district. No new regulations come into place when an area is designated as a National Historic District.
You may have heard the trials and tribulations of homeowners in neighborhoods like Lafayette Square who were cited for painting their doors the wrong shade of blue or residents of the Central West End who had to replace a brand-new fence because they built it with wood instead of wrought iron. These tales result from the tight design regulations that come with Local Historic Districts.
Local Historic Districts are established through a process of residents petitioning their neighbors. Then, the Board of Aldermen enacts legislation that sets design standards and requirements for rehabilitation and new construction within the district. Properties within a Local Historic District in St. Louis often must present plans for new construction or alteration of existing structures to the City’s Cultural Resources Office for review and approval to ensure they conform to the district’s highly detailed design regulations.
Again, to be clear, the new district would not be a Local Historic District. You’ll still be free to do with your property as you see fit within the current rules and regulations unless you apply for historic tax credits.
The Next Steps in the Historic District Nomination Process
In addition to collecting data on the ground as explained above, survey workers will also refer to official records from the City of St. Louis Assessor and Recorder of Deeds, Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and other sources. These records help determine the age of the building, the architect, the builder, and other relevant historical facts. The survey workers will then work with a historic preservation consultant to compile the complete survey. The survey is a painstakingly detailed, building-by-building description of each property in the survey area. For an example, see this listing from the 256-page Dutchtown South Historic District Nomination:
4661 VIRGINIA AV (1906) Property Type: Two-part commercial block Number of stories: 2 Builder: Ziegelmeier & Suter Structural system: Load-bearing Brick
This two story commercial building has a painted brick façade with a chamfered corner bay facing the intersection of Virginia and Itaska. The primary elevation is on Virginia. The replacement door to the second story is at the right bay; wide storefront windows (not the original) occupy the rest of the Virginia elevation. A full-width fabric awning shades the first story. At the second story are two replacement 1/1 windows, with a corbelled cornice above. The store door at the corner bay is a replacement, and has its own fabric awning. Another replacement 1/1 is at its second story. The corner bay has a pyramidal tower roof with a metal finial. At Itaska, there is a bricked-in storefront at the west end of the elevation; its iron beam with floral ornaments is still in place.
Now, simply repeat this process for each of the hundreds of buildings that make up these districts! The Dutchtown South Historic District has 697 property descriptions, for example, in a footprint about half of the size of the proposed district around Mount Pleasant. An astounding amount of time, research, and shoe leather goes into preparing these surveys.
Once the survey is completed, it is submitted to the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). SHPO reviews the survey to confirm the district’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. If they determine that the district is eligible, then the historic preservation consultant prepares a nomination to be reviewed and revised by SHPO. The nomination is then reviewed at a meeting of the Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a governor-appointed board of historians and preservationists. With their approval, the nomination is finally sent to the National Park Service. After one more review by them, the district is finally listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
As you can see, the process of establishing a National Historic District is quite involved, requiring a ton of on-the-ground work, research, documentation, and bureaucratic navigation. From initial assessment to official listing, the process can take years. Historic districts don’t happen overnight!
Establishing this new historic district is a long-term investment in the Greater Dutchtown area that will pay dividends in rehabilitation and redevelopment of our historic built environment and preservation of the decades of history lived by our neighbors, from the German immigrants who built the neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, to the diverse community of people that makes our neighborhood a place worth saving today, and for the generations to come after us who will write the next chapters in Dutchtown’s history.
We’re grateful for Lutheran Development Group’s substantial investment of time, money, and resources to pursue this opportunity to further cement Dutchtown’s place in the history books. Here’s to our past… and to our future!
