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Heritage & Preservation Commission
Overview
The Historic Preservation Commission was established to recommend to City Council the adoption of ordinances designating areas, places, buildings, structures or other objects, including city-owned property, having significant historical, architectural or aesthetic features as the city’s landmark sites; to recommend to City Council measures to protect those portions of the city that have significant historical, architectural or aesthetic features; and to hold public hearings on issues affecting proposed or designated landmark sites or structures.
The commission shall consist of nine voting members who shall be residents of the city appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of City Council, and with due regard to proper representation of fields such as history, education, architecture, urban planning, archaeology, real estate, art, and law. The Commission may also have one emeritus non-voting member, who may or may not be a resident of the city, and who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council.
Meetings
- Meeting Dates: Fourth Monday of the month every January, April, July and October at 7 pm
- Location: Columbia City Hall
Agendas & Minutes
Members
| Member | Term |
|---|---|
| Elizabeth Kutterer-Sanchez, Chairperson | May 1, 202to April 30, 2026 |
| Diane Hanna | May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2026 |
| Dennis Patton | May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025 |
| Lauren Nobbe | May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2026 |
| Lillian Koenigstein | May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025 |
| Vacant | May 1, 2024 to April 30, 2025 |
| Vacant | |
| Vacant | |
| Vacant |
Member Emeritus: Kenneth G. Haller
Community Preservation Plan
Designation of Columbia as a Certified Local Government (CLG) in 2012 stimulated community interest and helped define the need for a more comprehensive approach to preservation. Working through the Heritage and Preservation Commission, the City of Columbia in 2014 completed its first Community Preservation Plan (PDF), funded through a grant from the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA), with help from Historical Foundations, Inc. of Waterloo and the Heartland Conservancy of Mascoutah. The result of this planning effort is to identify and evaluate current preservation efforts, recommend future efforts, delineate how best to reach preservation goals, and incorporate everything into the community’s Comprehensive Plan.
Columbia’s Community Preservation Plan was awarded "Best Practice" recognition by the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association, designating it as the best preservation planning effort in the state for 2014.
Information from the plan, albeit with considerably more depth, is also available online through a RuskinARC™, a cloud-based platform for collecting, searching, evaluating, mapping, and managing information about historic resources, districts, landmarks, and other community assets.