The City of Harrisonville has been awarded an $18,000 grant from the federal Historic Preservation Fund for an intensive-level architectural survey of the Courthouse Square area. The information produced by the survey will be used to update the Courthouse Square’s listing on the National Register of Historic Places and identify historic sites for future nomination to the Register. The grant will be overseen by the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office. The deadline to complete the grant project is summer 2025.
The project is the first phase of a planned four phase survey of downtown Harrisonville and the adjoining neighborhoods. Architectural surveys record the status of an area with photographs, written descriptions, and a short history of each property within the survey boundaries. This information will allow the city measure changes in the downtown core since it was last surveyed in 1991. The Harrisonville Courthouse Square was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 as a collection of well-crafted commercial buildings which housed the commercial and political center of Cass County. Properties that contribute to these historic aspects of the district may be eligible for tax credits to fund rehabilitation work. The photographs will be taken from public rights-of-way and the histories researched from public records. The public will have opportunities to comment on the survey as the work progresses as they are drawn up.
The funding for the survey project comes from a $1.2 million grant awarded to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources by the National Park Service. Under the terms of the grant, the Department is required to pass through 10% of the funding as subgrants to Certified Local Governments (CLGs) throughout the state. The city has agreed to provide a 40% match to the federal funds. CLG grants are awarded through a competitive scoring process and the direct relation of the projects to the identification, evaluation, or protection of historical, architectural or archaeological resources. Harrisonville is one of 64 CLGs in Missouri.
For more information about Historic Preservation Fund Grants, visit https://mostateparks.com/page/84331/historic-preservation-fund-grants or contact the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858.