Published: November 05, 2009 09:21 pm      

Palestine receives 2010 National Main Street Recognition

Preservation Matters column

PALESTINE — The Texas Historical Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation recognized Palestine as one of the 56 National Main Street Cities of the 88 Texas cities in the Texas Main Street Program. The announcement was made on Wednesday in Tyler at the Texas Downtown Association Annual meeting.

Cities chosen as National Main Street Cities must show above average performance in 10 categories. The selection criteria focus on planning, staff and volunteers, preservation ethic, training and program assessment. Palestine is honored to be recognized again as a National Main Street city as in 2009. We thank all of Palestine Main Street's volunteers and businesses for helping make the National Recognition possible and we will strive to maintain the standard of excellence required for National Recognition.

Palestine is a city that may have a higher percentage of in-tact historic houses and buildings than any other city of a comparable size in the State of Texas. When the Historic resources Survey was completed from 1991-93, there were over 1,800 contributing structures in what became four National Register Historic Districts of 18 districts that were proposed in the survey. Four local and four National Register Districts have been designated since 1998: The North Side, South Side, Michaux Park, Old Town National Register Historic Districts, The Downtown, North Side, South Side, and Michaux Park Palestine Historic Districts.

All local Historic Preservation Ordinances are based upon the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, which is a list of ten common sense guidelines that were made law when Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Any municipality that has adopted a local preservation ordinance uses the Secretary's Standards as the basis for the local ordinance.

Local preservation ordinances provide for a preservation commission, which in Palestine is The HLC. Preservation Commissions are to review Applications for Certificates of Appropriateness (COA) for alterations and changes to historic properties that are either designated, eligible for designation, or are that in designated historic districts.

Palestine's Historic Preservation Ordinance was adopted in 1990 to preserve and protect Palestine's historic structures. The only protection for preserving the historic integrity of historic structures is through local Historic Preservation Ordinances. The National and State designations have no protection because there are enforcement provisions for State and Nationally designated properties. Local historic designations do provide for protection through enforcement provisions.

The implementation of designating landmarks and districts has been slow in Palestine until relatively recently. Due to an increased awareness of Palestine's remarkable historic resources, the effort to preserve Palestine's historic integrity has substantially increased since 2007. Between 1990 and 2006, 66 properties were designated as Palestine landmarks. Since 2007, there have been 66 Applications for Historic District and Historic Landmark Designations which has resulted in 45 designations. Currently, there are six of the proposed historic districts and 36 Palestine Landmarks are in the process of designation. There have also been Applications for 44 Certificate of Appropriateness in 2009, which is a significant increase over previous years.

Applications for Certificates of Appropriateness are required to be reviewed by the Palestine Historic Landmarks Commission (HLC) for alterations to Palestine Landmarks and properties located in Palestine Historic Districts as are Applications for Demolition. Whenever alterations are made to Palestine Landmarks and properties located in Palestine Historic Districts are not consistent with the Historic Preservation Ordinance and the Design Guidelines, the integrity of the structure, the historic district, and the city as a whole is compromised. All alterations to historic structures should be easily reversible. An irreplaceable part of Palestine's history is lost if the alterations are not easily reversible. When alterations are easily reversible, the structure's historic integrity is retained. A sub-standard structure should be rehabilitated and demolitions must be avoided if at all possible. Demolition irreversible and demolition is forever as a part of Palestine's history is forever lost.

The THC and the Palestine HLC review projects in proposed historic districts as though the project is in an existing historic district. This is because any historic property that is altered in a district or a proposed district should be altered according to the Ordinance and the Design Guidelines. If the alterations are not consistent with the Ordinance and the Design Guidelines, the alterations will negatively affect the historic integrity of the property and the proposed designation.

Applications for COA's, Landmark Designations, and Historic District designations are reviewed by the HLC to ensure that Palestine's historic resources are protected and preserved. The approval or denial of a COA is governed by the Historic Preservation Ordinance, the Design Guidelines, which are all based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. Designations of Palestine Landmarks and Districts are also governed by the Historic Preservation Ordinance. All decisions are rendered according to the specific Section and Chapter of the Ordinance, which are referenced in the Minutes of the Commission's meetings.

We have the information and the resources that you need to make informed decisions about repairing or altering older and historic structures in Palestine. More often than not, the information will help you to save money on your project. By calling the Historic Preservation Office at 903-724-3052, we can help you find easier and more cost effective ways to solve the challenges that sometimes come with rehabilitating an old house or building. Unfortunately, many people don't contact us and end up spending hundreds of dollars more than necessary to accomplish their goals. We are here to assist you with your project and we welcome your questions and concerns. Please contact Main Street Manager and Historic Preservation Officer Neely Plumb at 903-724-3052, or via E-mail at nplumb@palestine-tx.org.

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Neely Plumb is the City of Palestine's Main Street Manager and Historic Preservation Officer.