McMinnville creates preservation council
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In anticipation of that idea, McMinnville Board of Mayor and Aldermen members voted last week to create a preservation council designed to preserve any historic assets found during major construction taking place downtown in conjunction with the Main Street McMinnville downtown revitalization project.
Mayor Royce Davenport said officials are setting up the council, officially known as the city of McMinnville Preservation Council, in order to try to legally protect for the community what may be located under the streets once construction begins, noting extensive utility work is planned.
“It’s possible we won’t find a thing except dirt and rock and gravel. In all the digging we’ve done over the years, we’ve not found much of anything of any significance anyway,” Davenport said.
“That will probably be true for this, but this is the first time we’re doing blocks of a street and we’re going down in some places as much as three feet.”
The Preservation Council’s duties will be to make photographic and videographic records as well as recover, identify and preserve items of historic value discovered during the construction.
Officials have said phase one construction of Main Street between Chancery and Market streets is off to a late start but should begin in April or May, barring unexpected delays. The effort, consisting of utility work and refurbishing streets and sidewalks, is expected to cost around $5 million.
Davenport appointed five members to the council Monday, which were approved by board members.
Appointed Monday were Everett Brock, Mark Gribble, Alderman Jimmy Haley, who abstained from voting, Rob Jones and Michael Trevathan. Davenport noted each one’s level of experience in different areas, including collections of historic artifacts, videography and knowledge of history.