Historic Preservation as an Economic Planning Tool: the Case Study of Mount Vernon, Missouri

Historic preservation is the act of conserving the culture heritage of a nation or a people. It is a commitment toward safeguarding those sites, buildings, districts, and objects which visually reflect the cultural heritage of our forefathers. As a significant force in America today, historic preservation works to unify a community, build civic pride, educate the young and revitalize the economic atmosphere of blighted urban areas. The Missouri Main Street Program is intended to revitalize historic small town commercial districts. Using techniques developed by the National Main Street Center, the program seeks to foster economic revitalization by encouraging improvements in four basic areas: organization, promotion, economic restructuring, and design. Correlations calculated from the data gathered from the first ten Missouri Main Street communities demonstrate the high correlation between historic preservation and downtown economic revitalization. As the amount of historic preservation work increases, this in turn increased the economic benefits in those communities. This study has shown that the opportunity exists for Mount Vernon to realize the benefits of historic preservation if a historic preservation program is initiated.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Geospatial Sciences

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography, Geology, and Planning

Year

1995

Author dc:creator

• Combs, Harry Jason

Contributors dc:contributor

• Burl Self Jr.

• Earth Sciences

Statement dc:rights

• © Harry Jason Combs

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/773

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1774