City Partners with Davis Preservation to Update Historic Downtown District

The City of Arkansas City is taking the next step in preserving its historic downtown by partnering with Davis Preservation to update the National Register Nomination for the Historic Downtown Commercial District. This resolution, approved by City Commissioners during the June 3, 2025, meeting, authorizes the City to move forward with the project for an amount not to exceed $20,000. 

This project is funded by a Historic Preservation Fund Grant awarded earlier this year through the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). It builds on a previous grant from 2017, which funded a comprehensive resurvey of the district completed in May 2018. That resurvey recommended changes to the district’s boundaries—adding properties that now qualify and removing those that no longer meet the criteria. 

“This project is a direct reflection of the City’s Comprehensive Plan goal to ‘promote the maintenance and preservation of historical resources,’” said Josh White, Principal Planner. “It also advances the plan’s action item to ‘expand the existing historic district to match the recommendations from the 2018 Resurvey.’” 

The updated nomination will include buildings along Summit Street, 5th Avenue, and Central Avenue—including the City Hall building. 

An RFP for this project was issued earlier this year. Seven proposals were submitted, all within the $25,000 grant budget. Davis Preservation was selected based on its competitive $20,000 bid and its extensive experience with Kansas preservation projects. It was also the only Kansas-based firm to respond. 

The project will involve a thorough review of all buildings in the district based on the 2018 survey, with the goal of submitting an updated nomination that reflects the revised district boundaries.