To the editor:

Downtown Lawrence Inc. is very pleased that the city commissioners are recommending that downtown be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. We held an open forum in April for all downtown property owners and businesses to discuss this nomination and we received overwhelming support. The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors also voted unanimously to support the creation of an historic district in downtown.

The Aug. 14 Saturday Column implies that a historic designation will not be beneficial for downtown. We believe otherwise. Creating a historic district has many benefits including:

Federal and state rehabilitation income tax credits by property owners for rehabilitation expenses.

Eligibility for historic preservation grants.

Continued maintenance, preservation, and renovation of downtown buildings.

Promoting tourism.

Supporting the goals of Horizon 2020.

Currently, building renovation projects and new construction projects in the Downtown Conservation Zoning District are subject to design review by the city of Lawrence for conformance to the Downtown Design Guidelines. For projects that do not seek to use the tax credit programs or preservation grants, there will be no additional review process.

We believe that the designation of Downtown Lawrence as an historic district will help promote downtown and its businesses.

Jon Francis, president,

Downtown Lawrence Inc.