A proposed ordinance to protect and preserve the historic integrity of Southside has been scuttled due to a lack of funds.
Members of the Historic Preservation Commission had planned to seek a 50-50 matching grant of up to $10,000 from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s Historic Preservation Division, but when they realized they would not be able to obtain the financial backing for their portion of the match, they decided not to apply, City Planner Christina Berry said Thursday.
They had hoped to receive funds from the Columbus City Council, but the request was not included in this year’s budget, Berry said.
“Once community support and involvement is garnered for this project, it may be a viable project for city funding,” she said. “It, however, would have to meet council approval.”
The proposed boundaries of the Southside historic district would have been College Street, Mississippi University for Women, the railroad tracks and the river. MUW, which contains a number of historic buildings, would not have been included in the district, but city wards 1, 2 and 5 would have been affected.
Problems arose early in the process when the Commission learned the maps under which the district was originally created were too old and would have to be redrawn.
Commission member Betty Miller said she didn’t know how many structures were included within the boundaries, but with map estimates ranging from $10 to $30 per structure, the cost would have been too prohibitive to expect residents to pay, especially during a time of economic hardship.
Though Miller lives in the neighborhood and was in favor of the ordinance, she was an adamant supporter of more relaxed regulations than those in some cities.
If the ordinance had passed, the Commission would have been able to require approval for future structural modifications, making sure all changes were in keeping with the structure’s original era.
Structures within the proposed district parameters run the gamut of architectural styles, from antebellum mansions and Victorian homes to World War II-era bungalows.
The area was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in the early 1980s.
But though the ordinance is on the back burner, it will likely be revisited at a future date.
“We don’t want to just abandon that hope of an established Southside district,” Commission member Rachel George said Thursday night.
In other news, Carolyn Kaye has replaced former Commission member Nancy Carpenter, who resigned from the post after being named to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History board at the beginning of the year.
Applications are currently being taken to replace Commission member John Andresen, who recently resigned for health reasons.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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