Historic building and district recognized

Posted on May 4, 2010 by admin
Egyptian-style architecture

Egyptian-style architecture

Yesterday morning the Kirksville Historic Preservation Commission (KHPC) presented certificates to the Masonic Temple and the owners of some buildings on the north side of the square – Kirksville’s first historic district. There are great stories about the event on KTVO and the Kirksville Daily Express that detail what this means.

The KHPC formed only last year and is already making great steps forward. Thanks to a grant, they were able to commission an expert survey of the downtown area for potential historic properties. The results should be coming in soon and a similar survey of the entire city will follow shortly thereafter, thanks to a second grant.

The event was emceed by Lynn Daniels, the brand new Executive Director of the Kirksville Downtown Improvement Committee. Thanks to DREAM, we were able to receive another grant to fund this full-time position. One of Lynn’s charges is to find a source of continuous funding for the position. Her job is to be an advocate for the downtown, bringing together the property and business owners, city & county governments, citizens, tourism, KDIC and other parties with a stake in downtown revitalization to work together to improve commerce in the area. She’s in her first month and already hitting the streets to meet people and make plans.

Anyway, the turnout was great. Thank you to all who were able to attend. For more info, you can also check out the Frequently Asked Questions that I put together for the event, which details how and why the Kirksville Courthouse Square Historic District came to be.

Presentation started out at the courthouse
Egyptian-style architecture
...then moved to the Masonic Temple.
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Thank you!

Posted on April 13, 2010 by admin

Thanks to all who have been sending along their congratulations on my recent election as mayor. I am honored and humbled to be able to serve in this way.

For those who are unsure, the mayor in Kirksville’s “city manager” form of government is basically just the chairperson of the council. It’s the mayor’s responsibility to run the meetings, serve as a leader of sorts for the council, and represent the city at various events and functions. I don’t have any more “power” or influence than anyone else on the council. In Kirksville, it’s the city manager (Mari Macomber) who gets the big bucks and does the grueling 24-7 work of making sure our city services run efficiently – not the mayor.

Had a terrific lunch meeting with Lynn Daniels today, our newly hired Downtown Director of the KDIC. She has the genesis of some terrific ideas for leading the downtown into economic success, but right now she’s in a fact-gathering mission, meeting with all the business owners and building owners in the downtown area to hear what they have to say. I think she’s going to do well. It will be good to have a person full-time focused toward improving the downtown. I feel like we have a lot of the puzzle pieces already, but until now really lacked the singular leadership to be able to put them together into a cohesive whole. Please join me in welcoming Lynn into her new position.

Now, what do you think about the feasibility of these two ideas in Kirksville?:

Burning waste to generate electricity

A system for online reporting of stuff that needs fixin’

Leave your comments below!

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