The Valentine Board has made a commitment to educate neighborhood residents about both local and national historic designation. President Travis Gaddis has been sharing updates in our newsletter in his President’s Letter and we have been inviting guest speakers to our meetings. If you miss any of the updates, they are included here so you have all the information. We expect to vote as a neighborhood later this year on whether we want to pursue either local or national designation.
President’s Letter/Jan. 20, 2026: Update on the Local Historic Designation.
The Neighborhood Planning & Development Committee has delayed its decision (on whether to create the Norman School Historic District) for one year. During that time, Councilman Rea has asked Kansas City Life Insurance to provide monthly updates and make meaningful progress on their Phase I development along Southwest Trafficway. Kansas City Life Insurance has also agreed to provide updates at our VNA general meetings. Additionally, Councilman Bunch has asked the VNA to explore the possibility of expanding the Local Historic Designation to cover more of the Valentine neighborhood.
Over the past year, we’ve learned a great deal about what Local Historic Designation could mean for our neighborhood. I recognize that not everyone has been able to follow every update, so we will continue sharing clear and balanced information on the pros and cons throughout the first part of 2026. We will also determine which additional areas of the neighborhood may be eligible. Ultimately, neighbors living within any proposed district will vote on whether to move forward with an expansion.
With that in mind, I encourage each of you to share what information you’d like to see or what questions you have so you can make an informed decision when the time comes. We will do our best to bring the right people to our meetings to provide accurate information and answer questions. While we may not all agree on the outcome, my goal is for everyone to feel confident that their decision is based on facts and a shared understanding.
Feb. 18, 2026 Newsletter: National v. Local Designation
As we continue our discussion over adding parts of the neighborhood to either the local or national historic register, it is important to understand the difference between the two types of district. The city has provided us with a document that explains this.
https://valentineneighborhood.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/NationalversesKC.pdf
March 17, 2026 Newsletter: What is local historic designation?
This map provided by the city shows local historic districts (outlined in purple) around Valentine (shaded in yellow).
There are two types of historic designation for individual properties and neighborhoods. First is national historic designation, a designation by the National Park Service, which serves as the official list of historic places. The second is designation on the Kansas City Register of Historic Places, overseen by the Kansas City Local Preservation Commission.
According to the city, the purpose of the local register is to provide a design review process that encourages quality design for proposed alterations to existing properties and gives any person or neighborhood a forum to comment on changes to their neighborhood.
National versus local designation
The Hyde Park neighborhood to our east has properties on both registers and provides a useful overview of the impact of each.
May 26, 2026/General Meeting Speaker: Presentation on Historic Districts
Brad Wolf, the city’s historic preservation officer, attended our May meeting to present an overview of the difference between local and national designation and what types of designs the Historic Preservation Commission considers when reviewing proposed changes to a building in a local historic district.
Presentation on Historic Designation
Presentation on Design Guidelines