A few El Dorado residents ventured out into biting temperatures Tuesday to attend a Community Open House that was held as part of the ongoing process to develop a citywide, historic preservation plan for the city.
The event was hosted by the Lakota Group, an Illinois-based urban design firm that is drafting the plan, to gather input from the community and to identify and prioritize historic preservation issues in the city.
The El Dorado Historic District Commission assisted in hosting the open house, which also served as a public education and awareness campaign about the project.
The project is being covered by a $42,000 grant from the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program — the largest Certified Local Government grant to ever be awarded to El Dorado and the largest to be awarded from a $100,000 pot that was available for this grant cycle — and a $10,000 match from the El Dorado Works tax.
Earlier this year, the EHDC applied for the grant and presented a funding request to the EWB for matching funds.
Commissioners have said the Lakota Group will come up with a historic preservation plan that will recognize historic buildings, sites and neighborhoods and recommend potential projects to enhance the city’s historic preservation program and boost economic development.
Preliminary work got under way earlier this year and members of the Lakota team visited El Dorado in July to meet with historic district commissioners and to tour the city in an official kick-off of the planning process, which is expected to be completed in late summer 2020.
The open house is part of phase one of the planning.
It was a come-and-go event, during which Lakota team members met with residents and provided an overview of the project, answered questions and listened to ideas.
Visitors had the option of writing down comments and leaving them in designated boxes that were available throughout the SouthArk Library auditorium.
Historic district commissioners Linda Rathbun and Ann Trimble, executive director Elizabeth Eggleston and Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer attended the two-hour open house.
At one point, Smith-Creer went live on Facebook to remind residents about the event and discuss the purpose of the open house and preservation plan.
Informational placards displayed details Lakota has already compiled about El Dorado, including existing, local conditions (historic districts and landmarks), notable people and buildings and architectural styles.
Visitors were asked to provide additional information they felt would be pertinent to the preservation plan.
For instance, among the list of notable people — Reese “Goose” Tatum, Edwin Boyd Alderson, Charles H. Murphy Jr., Donna Axum, T.H Barton, Lou Brock and others. Visitors suggested adding H.L. Hunt, Warner Brown and Daniel Gafford.
There was also a written suggestion that the plan acknowledge the El Dorado oil boom of the 1920s.
Some local buildings and architectural styles that appeared on the placards were First Presbyterian Church (Gothic Revival), City Hall (Art Deco) and the Union County Courthouse (Neo-Classical).
Within the next few weeks, the Lakota Group is expected to return to El Dorado and meet with city staff and a steering committee that has been formed for the planning process.
The historic district commission will convene for a regular meeting at noon today in the Council Chamber of City Hall.