Efforts are underway to get the “traditional part” of downtown Oxford listed on the National Register of Historic Places and hopefully, not have to pay a penny for the nomination process.

Last week, the village council voted 5-0 to approve a resolution supporting the Downtown Development Authority’s (DDA) application for a program through which the State Historic Preservation Office will hire and pay for a consultant to research and write a nomination that could result in placement on the National Register.

Up to three cities/villages will be selected statewide through a competitive process. The deadline to apply is Sept. 30.

“This application is by no means the be-all, end-all,” said DDA Executive Director Joe Frost, during his pitch to council. “There’s no guarantee that we will even be selected.”

Created in 1966, the National Register is the official list of the country’s historically and culturally significant places. It’s part of the National Park Service and its purpose is to “support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate and protect America’s historic and archaeological resources.”

According to the National Park Service website, there are more than 80,000 properties listed in the National Register, representing 14 million buildings, sites, districts, structures and objects. Almost every county in the U.S. has at least one place listed. Michigan has more than 1,600 listings.

Locally, the historic district in the Village of Lake Orion became part of the National Register in 2006. Prior to that, the single-span stone arch railroad bridge – built in 1891 over Indian Lake Rd. on the Oxford/Orion border – joined the list.

Frost told council that Bob Christensen, National Register coordinator at the State Historic Preservation Office, informed him that downtown Oxford is “eligible for listing.”

“The State Historic Preservation Office, they’re pretty strict,” Frost said. “They don’t just say every downtown’s eligible. And certainly, not every downtown is, but ours is.”

“It is very difficult to get a single building listed to the National Register. It’s much easier to get a district because it’s much more representative of the community and the historical character,” the director noted.

All the work necessary to nominate an entire downtown isn’t cheap.

“The average (cost) for a district about our size would be about $30,000,” Frost said. “That is an incredible sum of money.”

That’s why the DDA is applying for this state-funded program. “Now is an opportunity, at no cost to the community, to take the next step and hopefully, list our downtown on the National Register,” Frost said.

Being on the National Register could aid downtown’s economic development efforts. Frost explained federal tax credits would be available to developers who rehabilitate old buildings to historical standards. This provides a development incentive.

“Historic preservation is certainly a tool in the economic development tool box,” he said. “There are developers out there who specifically seek projects that are in downtown districts, historic districts. There have been studies far and wide that suggest and support that property values are retained in (designated) historic districts. It will certainly bring an added level of visibility to downtown.”

Frost noted there are “misconceptions” about being on the National Register.

One of those falsehoods is that it curtails property rights, dictating what owners can and cannot do.

“It does not place obligations on private property owners and there are no restrictions in use,” Frost explained.

Being on the National Register also does not lead to “public acquisition” of property or any requirements concerning “public access.”

“The National Register does not even block demolition,” Frost noted.

For example, the director said downtown Oxford could be listed on the National Register tomorrow, then bulldozed.

“As long as we don’t use federal money for the bulldozing, there’s really no ramifications,” he said.

If the state agrees to pay downtown Oxford’s nomination expenses for the National Register process, the work would begin in June 2017 and take anywhere from 12 to 24 months, according to the State Historic Preservation Office.

The work includes research, writing, photography, building inventories, creating maps, identifying district boundaries, and public presentations and notices.

If downtown Oxford is not selected and the DDA still wished to pursue a spot on the National Register, Frost said it would be “on our own time and our own dime.”

Simply applying for this funding does not obligate the DDA to continue. “This is not binding in any way,” Frost said.