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Wildwood planners present final draft of city's Historic Preservation Plan, outline 10-year goals
Summary
City staff and the Historic Preservation Commission presented the final draft of Wildwood's first stand-alone Historic Preservation Plan, summarizing public engagement (200+ survey responses, multiple events), eight goals and 73 strategic actions to guide preservation and heritage tourism over the next decade.
The City of Wildwood Planning & Zoning Commission heard the final-draft Historic Preservation Plan on a public hearing item presented by the Department of Planning and Robin Keefe, liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission.
Travis Newberry of the Department of Planning said the plan was developed with a grant from the National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund and the Missouri State Historic Preservation Office and that the effort began in earnest in January 2025. "This is the first plan of its type in the city of Wildwood," department staff said, describing a multi-phase process that will now move through the Historic Preservation Commission before returning to Planning & Zoning and then to City Council.
Robin Keefe summarized public engagement and structure: a historic-preservation survey with more than 200 responses, several in-person events including a July open house (40–50 attendees), five focus groups (including an African American and indigenous heritage group), a virtual open house and recorded content posted online. Keefe said the plan establishes five vision elements, eight goals and 73 strategic actions organized into short-, medium-, long-term and ongoing timelines to guide implementation.
Key goals highlighted in the presentation include enhancing the Route 66 visitor experience to support heritage tourism, using regulatory tools and designations to protect threatened resources, preserving sites that document indigenous and African American histories, expanding heritage tourism and expanding engagement methods (including youth and intergenerational participation). Keefe said one frequent public request was "more heritage-themed events" and stronger recognition of natural features alongside built resources.
Department staff emphasized that the local historic-register program is voluntary and that the plan is intended both to protect assets and to leverage them for economic development and community benefit. The department noted it will include comments from the Historic Preservation Commission's recent hearing in its formal recommendation and that final adoption steps include Planning & Zoning action followed by City Council public hearings.
The commission took no immediate final action on the plan; the department will provide the Historic Preservation Commission's findings to Planning & Zoning before a future vote.
