Paducah city leaders want City Hall on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
If the nomination goes through, the city could apply for state tax credits to help fund the planned $18 million renovation of the building. Until recently, constructing a new City Hall had also been an option.
“Even though the government decision-making process may have seemed lengthy, we have thoroughly researched City Hall design options and solicited input from the public," Mayor Gayle Kaler said, in a news release. "We respect the heritage of Paducah and feel a responsibility in saving this great building, City Hall. By pursuing a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which would allow us to apply for historic tax credits, we are on a path of making sure this building is saved for future generations to admire.”
The 51-year-old building will be nominated under the register’s criterion for structures that “embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction” or are the work of a master. Paducah City Hall was designed by Edward Durell Stone, who was also the architect of New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C.
The first phase of rehabilitation for the building will include stabilizing its canopy and renovation on the roof.
