City of El Dorado awarded historic preservation grant
The city of El Dorado has been awarded a 2024 Certified Local Government grant in the amount of $31,400 to continue historic preservation efforts around town.
The majority of the grant will be used to fund a project to nominate two local commercial buildings — Barton Library and the James Johnston Gymnasium — to the National Register of Historic Places.
The El Dorado Historic District Commission will oversee the project and administer the grant, which comes from the federal Historic Preservation Fund and is funneled through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
The Certified Local Government program represents a partnership between the National Park Service, AHPP and local governments in the state to preserve historic resources at the local level.
A city or county is eligible to participate in the CLG program if it has established a historic district commission and has adopted a local preservation ordinance designating one or more local historic districts.
El Dorado is one of 21 CLG cities in Arkansas and over the years, the group has received several CLG grants, which are typically used to fund historic preservation projects.
Members of the El Dorado Historic District Commission discussed the grant award during a regular meeting on March 14.
Elizabeth Eggleston, executive director of the EHDC, shared with commissioners a letter from the AHPP notifying Mayor Paul Choate of the grant award.
The grant will also be used to cover other EHDC operations, including a stipend for the executive director; expenses for in-state and national training opportunities for commissioners and staff (Eggleston); and membership fees for historic preservation organizations.
State historic preservation officials said they will follow up with more details about the terms and conditions of the grant, per the letter.
On March 14, Eggleston shared additional details about the grant, noting that Barton Library and the James Johnston Gymnasium, which is adjacent to Mattocks Park, are on tap for potential nominations to the National Register of Historic Places.
Eggleston noted that Barton Library, which opened in 1958, was included in a group of commercial and residential
buildings for which a Determination of Eligibility was conducted in 2013.
DOEs assess if a building is fit to be nominated for the NRHP.
Other buildings and structures that were a part of the 2013 survey were the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado, the TAC House, Memorial Stadium, South Arkansas Arts Center, the office of the Boy Scouts of America: De Soto Area Council; Southwestern Bell Telephone/AT&T building; Rumph Mortuary (Perry’s Funeral Chapel); and Hillsboro House, which sits atop a hill on East Hillsboro, just west of Center Street.
“Barton Library (underwent a DOE) survey once before but it just never made it to the finish line for the National Register nomination,” Eggleston said.
She later noted that only two of the buildings — Rumph Mortuary and the TAC House — advanced to the National Register.
The James Johnston Gym — commonly known as the James Johnson Gym—, which, along with Mattocks Park, anchors the neighborhood that is informally known as New Addition on the city’s southeast side.
The gym was built in 1960 to serve African American youth — seven years after land was donated to the city for Mattocks Park to serve the Black community.
The gym has been home to a variety of youth programs, starting out as a Boys (and Girls) Club.
Over the years, organizations, including the Salvation Army of El Dorado and now, Character First, have used the building as a base of operations to serve area youth.
Character First is a youth development program that is operated by Bible Baptist Church.
The building is owned by Union County, who was considering razing the building when Weido and other Character First program leaders rallied the community to come together and renovate the building — a project that was largely completed with donations of money, labor and services.
As its name suggests, Character First impresses upon its members the importance of developing good character and life skills.
In December, commissioners invited Weido and Michael O’Connell, director of Barton Library, to their regular monthly meeting to discuss the DOE project.
Eggleston said only one consultant responded to a request for proposals to pursue the DOE project and complete the National Register nomination for Barton Library and the James Johnston Gym.
She said $20,000 of the $31,400 grant will be used for the DOEs and the bulk of the line item will likely go toward the James Johnston Gym.
A breakdown of the remainder of the grant calls for $5,850 for training and travel for EHDC staff commissioners for the biennial forum of the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions and CLG training.
The national forum will be held July 31 - Aug. 4 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
During the 2022 NAPC forum, which was held in Cincinnati, Ohio, the El Dorado Historic District Commission was named “Commission of the Year”.
EHDC members also plan to attend CLG training in the fall in Hot Springs.
Additionally, $5,250 will be used for a stipend for the EHDC executive director to oversee the implementation of the CLG grant and $300 will be used to cover membership fees for the EHDC in the Preserve Arkansas and NAPC historic preservation programs.