Help Save the Next Dame Block

Wish there had been a way to save The Dame block in Lexington before Dudley Webb turned it into the Lexington Heritage Memorial Shithole?

Turn your regret into action. Help prevent the next Webb-tastrophe by adding your voice to the Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan.

The Kentucky Heritage Council / State Historic Preservation Office has announced a series of meetings and an online survey to solicit public input in identifying goals and strategies for guiding Kentucky’s historic preservation efforts. The information will be used to compile the 2009-2014 Kentucky State Historic Preservation Plan, updated every five years as required by the National Park Service and provisions of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act.

The first public meeting will be in Frankfort on Wednesday, February 25, from 2-3:30 p.m. at Paul Sawyier Public Library. (A complete list of meetings planned around the state follows.) The brief online survey is posted at the Heritage Council Web site, www.heritage.ky.gov.

An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Heritage Council maintains updated inventories of historic structures and archaeological sites, nominates sites to the National Register of Historic Places and works in partnership with other state and federal agencies, local communities and interested citizens in statewide preservation efforts. As in years past, the new plan will serve as a statement of public policy that guides statewide preservation initiatives including the work of the Heritage Council, addresses critical issues affecting historic and cultural resources and recommends solutions to minimize threats to resources and barriers to preservation planning.

“We want to encourage broad public participation because this plan is for all Kentuckians, and every person and every community has a stake in understanding and defining preservation goals locally as well as those that drive our agency,” said Mark Dennen, Acting Heritage Council Director and State Historic Preservation Officer. “Kentucky is blessed to have abundant historic resources, and preserving this heritage for the future depends on how good a job we do now planning for their survival. This means everything from rehabilitating a downtown building to finding new uses for historic farm and industrial buildings – being creative in putting them to work for Kentucky’s economy.”

Click here for the schedule of public preservation planning meetings around the state.