February 27, 2007

Heritage Trust Fund Grant Review Committee

Cultural Resources Division
Kansas State Historical Society
6425 SW 6th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66615-1099

Dear Review Committee:

The City Commission of Lawrence, Kansas, supports the Heritage Trust Fund Grant application for the stabilization and rehabilitation of the Breezedale monuments located at 23^rd and Massachusetts Streets in Lawrence. 

The City of Lawrence applied for and received a Historic Preservation Fund grant for the survey and National Register nomination of the Breezedale neighborhood in 2004.  One of the City’s main goals for this grant was to document the significant history of the neighborhood and to identify the Breezedale monuments as significant, tangible historic resources in the City of Lawrence. The Breezedale Historic District was listed in the Register of Historic Kansas Places on November 19, 2005, with the Breezedale monuments listed as contributing structures, and is pending for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Breezedale monuments are a highly visible historic resource in Lawrence.  City Staff, including the Historic Resources Administrator, have worked over the past three years to ensure the maintenance for the structures is conducted in a sensitive manner using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.  It has become apparent, however, that additional expertise and expense is required to stabilize and rehabilitate the monument.

As a Certified Local Government, the City of Lawrence is committed to the identification, evaluation, and preservation of the City’s historic resources.  The Breezedale monuments are a significant, highly visible historic resource in the City of Lawrence worthy of the recognition and protection a Heritage Trust Fund Grant can provide.

Sincerely,

Mike Amyx, Mayor