Missourians will be making more history in the next century…meaning the state will have to find ways to preserve more historic sites.
Missouri’s 34 historic sites don’t come anywhere close to telling the state’s long and diverse history..and the state division of parks and historic sites knows all of Missouri’s history has not been made.
But the division’s financial resources are limited…
Division director Doug Eiken sees a need to establish a its own specialized historic preservation crew that can preserve existing sites. He also suggests his agency’s program can be extended with partnerships with locally-operated historic sites in which the state provides promotion and interpretation expertise but does not own or operate it.
Eiken says the dedicated tax going to the department is mostly earmarked for state parks and historic sites, limiting the division’s ability to participate financially in local historic projects. He says other states have general fund grant programs to help local parks and historic sites but Missouri does not.
Eiken says his agency needs to work more closely with local preservation groups which might have to take more responsibility for preserving the history to be made in the future.
download bob priddy’s story (:60 mp3)
