Creve Coeur Is Asked To Consider Historic Preservation Law

The City of Creve Coeur has a Historic Preservation Committee, which according to the city's website, is primarily charged with:

• Encouraging and aiding in the preservation and renovation of historic buildings and artifacts in the Creve Coeur community.
• Aiding and supporting the efforts of other historic preservation groups in the city.

But Ward 2 City Councilwoman Tara Nealey pointed out Monday the city does not have a Historic Preservation ordinance that would help preserve the historic nature of buildings in the city.

Nealey and residents of Ladue Estates,  talked up the need for the city to have such an ordinance Monday night.

Lee Ann Baker, a Ladue Estates resident and Trustee, said the recognition does not by itself equal preservation. Baker said a letter writing campaign yielded interest from other mid-century modern architectural neighborhoods in having something along those lines.

Nealey said it was easy enough to see the steps other communities were taking with this period in particular just by Googling the term: mid century modern historic preservation.

A search of those terms yielded this Patch Blog from Potomac (MD) Patch.

While Nealey shared an example of an ordinance from Ohio, she has no specific set of expecations that would shape a Creve Coeur ordinance, and started with mid-century modern because it was the period during which Creve Coeur saw its building boom from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Any ordinance would not supercede subdivision indentures. Baker too, added that she did not want to "impede updates" to buildings, as long as those changes to alter the building's mid-century nature.

Council concluded the discussion Monday by directing the city's Historic Preservation Committee to explore what might be included in an ordinance.

What buildings in Creve Coeur do you think should be protected by a historic preservation ordinance? Tell us in the comment section.