UI District Before State Saturday; City Sends Letters of Support

MOSCOW – A letter of support for designating a historic district at the University of Idaho will be sent to the Idaho Historic Sites Review Board from the Moscow Historic Preservation Commission, that group decided by vote at its Thursday meeting.

State reviewers are scheduled Saturday to consider the UI proposal as one of nine nominations. The review board meets annually in May to vote on projects it receives the previous October. Find the nomination and meeting information at https://history.idaho.gov/nrhp/historic-sites-review-board/

If approved, the nomination will be sent to the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places at the National Park Service; if approved there, the property is listed in the NRHP. The process generally takes at least a year.

The mayor also is sending a letter of support, the Moscow board was told Thursday.

Other north Idaho nominees this year include downtown Bovill, Idaho, the Lenore grange hall, and two rural agriculture submissions from Kootenai County.

The Moscow commission on Thursday also voted to support edits to the UI nomination that Commissioner Anne Marshall plans to send to the state for incorporation before the UI proposal moves on for national consideration. 

Marshall, a UI professor emeritus in architecture, said she hopes to improve consistency and accuracy in the architecture areas of the UI nomination. The proposal largely was compiled by historians at the university.

In other business, the Moscow Historic Preservation Commission briefly discussed the November Orchid Awards and the interpretive history sign for Friendship Square. The board’s next monthly meeting is scheduled for June 25.