photo by: Cynthia Hernandez/Journal-World

Watson Park, seen here on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.

The City of Lawrence’s Historic Resources staff will be holding an open house this weekend for people to comment on the potential listing of Watson Park on the Lawrence Register of Historic Places.

The open house will be from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 31, in Room B of the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. There, residents will have the chance to give feedback about the potential listing of the park between Sixth and Eighth streets in downtown Lawrence.

A news release from the city said Watson Park was shown on the original town survey of Lawrence in 1854 as an open space, and in the 1855 town plat it was identified as Central Park. In 1990, it was renamed in honor of Buford Watson, who was the city manager from 1970 to 1989.

The release said the Lawrence Register of Historic Places is a list of properties that are significant to the city’s cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history. The list was created in 1988 and currently has 95 individually listed properties and two historic districts.

There will be other ways to submit comments if you can’t attend the open house. Comments will be heard during the Historic Resources Commission’s public meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., and they can also be submitted by email at planning@lawrenceks.gov by 10 a.m. Feb. 19.