City Council hopes to keep State Historical Society in Columbia

By Ryan Schmitz

Published Oct. 28, 2008

The Columbia City Council met Monday for a work session to discuss several proposals, including finding a new home for a museum, amending downtown's borders and regulating city growth.

The Council discussed the search for a new location for the State Historical Society of Missouri, which is located on the MU campus.

Assistant City Manager Tony St. Romaine said the museum is restricted in terms of area, which he said is a "shame" because of the amount of artwork the museum has.

The proposal would require the acquisition of a five-story building at Sixth and Locust streets for the new location.

St. Romaine said the project would attract visitors to downtown. The city has put in a request for funding from the state, but the society would have to raise additional funds of its own or move to Jefferson City.

"That would inconvenience many people in Columbia and at the university," St. Romaine said. "Many researchers come here to do their work, and they would have to go a longer way. Plus, these works would not be available to the MU community."

The council heard an update from the Downtown Leadership Council on its design for organizing downtown into four zones. 

The report defined the targeted area as the rectangle bounded by the MU campus, the Columbia Public Library, the Business Loop 70 and U.S. Highway 63. They have divided the area into four quadrants, each coordinated by four committee members.

St. Romaine said that the four areas were zoned based on their use or historical significance. The council plans to create a three-dimensional map of the project on the city's Web site so Columbia residents can see a visual representation of the development. This practice of form-based zoning has worked well in revitalizing the downtown district of Raleigh, N.C., St. Romaine said. 

The plan would not eliminate the existing zones of downtown, but reorganize the area by concentrating similar businesses near one another. St. Romaine said an important factor in planning the project is transportation. The council will ensure that the area has adequate access to buses. He emphasized the plan's intention to reflect the ideas of Columbia as a whole.

"We want to create the community's collective vision of the best possible downtown," St. Romaine said. "We need to know what's important to people, whether that means more or fewer high-paying jobs, light-rail access to Jefferson City or whatever else people may want. We want to allow people to live, work and enjoy recreational activities downtown, while still maintaining a neighborhood feel."