Our National Historic Designation
Historic districts in the United States are designated historic districts recognizing a group of buildings, properties, or sites by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects, and sites within a historic district are normally divided into two categories, contributing and non-contributing. Districts greatly vary in size: some have hundreds of structures, while others have just a few (1).
Listing on the National Register gives official recognition of the district’s significance and is a prerequisite for receiving various kinds of Federal benefits (e.g., Federal grants, tax incentives, etc.). However, National Register listing or eligibility for listing provides protection—of a procedural sort—only when there is a federal involvement (e.g., Federal dollars, permits, etc.) in an action that may threaten the resources in the district. If there is no Federal involvement, the Federal designation of the district as historic doesn't help to protect the resources aside from the fact that the Federal Government has officially agreed that the district is significant and thus worthy of preservation (2).
Beauregard Town was nominated to become a National Historic District on April 11, 1979 and was formally designated as such in 1980 (3). The boundaries of the historic district designation were increased twice in 1983 and once in 2000 to include structures that contribute to the historic significance of community (4).
Beauregard Town became part of the Baton Rouge Downtown Development District (DDD) when it is was formed in 1987. The DDD was formed to initiate, incubate and support partnerships that develop and enhance the District, using community-driven master plans and economic incentives to aid private-sector and nonprofit philanthropic organizations in their development and entrepreneurship efforts (5). The DDD has been highly successful in the redevelopment of downtown spurring restoration of many of the commercial building and bringing business and commerce back to the area.
Becoming a Local Historic District
The BTCA has nominated Beauregard Town to become a local historic district. The primary impetus for becoming a Local Historic District is to preserve the historical culture, character, and integrity of our neighborhood (6). Local historic districts also promote the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare of the public (7).
- Educational Preserving important historic resources creates a visible public connection with the community’s heritage. Historic buildings are memory sites that preserve the human stories of people who built, lived in, or worked in the buildings. LHD provide the opportunity to highlight the presence of historic buildings to represent and interpret the events, personages, and lifestyles of the past. Educational activities can take the form of publications, walking tours, school programs, or collaboration with other community organizations.
- Cultural Welfare Preserving historic buildings adds to the architectural and visual richness of the community, displaying the roots of its character and diversity. As a tangible link to tradition and innovation, LHDs help to create a strong sense of place. The pubic awareness of history and tradition can promote community involvement, education, and interaction.
- Economic Welfare Preserving historic resources provides a promise of stability and protects the community from radical change. Property values within designated districts tend to remain more stable through periods of economic volatility and show stronger appreciation over the long term. Other economic benefits may include well-maintained infrastructure, a stronger neighborhood identity, increased tourism, and more thoughtful and creative design of new construction in the district.
- General Welfare LHD designations contribute to the general welfare of the community in less obvious ways as well. The benefits of historic designation may include:
a. Environmental Impact Preserving older buildings is a wise use of infrastructure, land, and non-renewable resources. Preservation entails an investment in the existing built environment rather than using land and resources to build new. Preserving and reusing existing buildings makes better use of tax dollars by reducing the need for new roads, sewers, and utilities. Avoiding demolition reduces landfill waste. Historic preservation is an important part of “smart,” or sustainable, growth.
b. Visual Impact LHD designations help to preserve traditional development patterns—dense business districts, walkable neighborhoods, distinct villages, and rural farms. The community’s distinct architectural heritage creates a rich spatial context and may encourage the use of compatible materials and forms in new construction.
c. Social Impact The historic designation process encourages residents and property owners to take an active role in defining the future of the community. Historic buildings and neighborhoods provide well-built and humanscaled environments that are attractive places to live, work, or visit.
The first public meeting to was held at the Downtown Development District on September 11, 2019. The purpose of this meeting was to review the purpose and benefits of Beauregard Town becoming a local historic district and gauge the property owners’ interest in obtaining local historic district designation. There were no objections and thus the BTCA worked with the Planning Commission to initiate the process.
Steps to Success!
Step one of the processes was to conduct a Historic Structures Survey Report. The survey was funded by the City of Baton Rouge with a matching grant from the Division of Historic Preservation at the State of Louisiana’s Office of Cultural Development through the Historic Preservation Fund Survey Grant. The survey of all the structures in Beauregard Town was conducted by Rolf + Calhoun Preservation. The results of the report can be found by clicking on the link below.
https://www.brla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9789/BRGT-Survey-Report
Step two was to provide the report to the public for comment. Once the report was completed it was shared at a public meeting at the Old Governor’s Mansion on July 15, 2020. The community was invited to make any comments regarding the report on their property and after the comment period, it was submitted to the State for approval.
Step three was to develop the Design Guidelines for the Beauregard Town Local Historic District. The purpose of the guidelines is to provide a guide to help retain the historic character of our neighborhood as a guide to individuals, businesses, architects, designers, as well as the Historic Preservation Commission, in making consistent and objective decisions involving work and development within the historic district. The guidelines were provided to the public for review at Downtown Library on April 20, 2021. Please click on the following link to view proposed guidelines.
https://www.brla.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10255/Draft-Design-Guidelines-PDF
Step 4 was to survey the property owners to gauge their interest in becoming a local historic district based on the Historic Structures Survey and the proposed LHD Guidelines. The survey was sent to every property owner in February 2021. A survey request was also placed on the door of every property in the neighborhood. The results of a survey indicated that an overwhelming majority supported the guidelines through the implementation of an ordinance that is limited to review by the Historic Preservation Commission for new construction, additions visible from the street, and commercial structures based on the proposed guidelines. Otherwise, the proposed guidelines are suggestions on how to make alterations or upgrades to your property and maintain the character of the neighborhood.
- A map of the proposed boundary of the local historic district based on the survey responses can be found by clicking on the link below.
https://ebrgis.maps.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=15b7ab2ae8254dde8adfd40a6304534a
Step 5 was to nominate Beauregard Town to become an LHD based on the survey from the property owners’ responses. An official nomination was sent to the Planning Commission June 1, 2021. The BTCA then worked with the Planning Commission to develop an ordinance that is limited to review by the Historic Preservation Commission for new construction, additions visible from the street, and commercial structures based on the proposed guidelines.
Step 6 the Planning Commission forwarded the nomination, guidelines, and proposed ordinance to the Historic Planning Commission. The HPC met on July 14, 2021, for public comment and to vote on the package. The process was deferred until March 2022 to provide time for property owners to review the guidelines which were placed at the Downtown and Carver Branch Libraries.
