Image courtesy the city of Escanaba Above, the area being considered for a historic district is shown, along with indicators showing the year homes in the area were built.

ESCANABA — A forum has been arranged for citizens to learn about what a new historic district — the Ogden Triangle, not yet designated — could potentially mean for Escanaba. It is scheduled for Monday, May 12 at 5 p.m. at City Hall (410 Ludington St).

Though it’s been a few months since the matter was discussed, the possibility of creating a district in the Ogden Triangle began a handful of years ago, after the Central Upper Peninsula Planning and Development (CUPPAD) proposed a historic overlay for the area in the City of Escanaba’s 2016 master plan’s future land use map. Since that time, the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC, formerly the Historic District Commission) and the last couple zoning administrators have looked into pursuing the classification to ­preserve some of the city’s  noteworthy buildings.

An “overlay” could add regulations on top of the existing zoning rules in the district, and in the past, residents expressed concerns about the idea. They were worried that extra rules could prohibit remodels or make home repairs costly if things had to be done a certain way; they didn’t want their freedoms restricted.

But there isn’t only one way to move forward.

Escanaba’s new planning and zoning administrator, Joseph Walker, who stepped into the role a couple months ago, suggested at the March meeting of the HPC that the city bring in an expert who could explain things to the residents who would be affected. Walker himself has experience with some smaller-scale historic preservation efforts, but for the Ogden Triangle matter, the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) will chip in.

At Monday’s forum, a Certified Local Government (CLG) and Community Preservation Coordinator from SHPO will dial in remotely to speak about different possible routes forward and answer questions from residents.

The forum does not cost anything to the City of Escanaba, which is one of 42 CLGs in the state. The SHPO coordinator, Haley Schriber, is providing information simply so that residents and staff may have a better understanding of the city’s options for historic preservation and what benefits there may be.

In 2021, another SHPO coordinator,  Alan Higgins, visited Escanaba at the request of city staff and took an inventory of the properties within the Ogden Triangle — bordered by 1st Avenue South on the north, South 7th Street to the west, and Lake Shore Drive on the southeast — based on curbside observations. The ensuing report identified 98 of the 180 properties within as “contributing resources,” meaning that the structures “relate to an area’s historical or architectural significance, date to the area’s period of significance, and retain historic integrity;” the remaining 82 were deemed non-contributing.

Noting the range, Walker said that there were ways of protecting some properties and not others.

“We have a lot of extremely valuable historic inventory in the Ogden triangle, (but) we also have some rather new builds, so it’s possible we could focus our efforts on a few key resources this way and leave most property owners unaffected,” he said.

The event on May 12 is open to the public. Community members with an interest in the preservation of residential historic Escanaba and the future of its neighborhoods are invited to attend the forum.