News Release 255

HISTORIC PRESERVATION COUNCIL TO CONSIDER MILLER AREA NOMINATIONS FOR NATIONAL REGISTER MAY 16

Volume 36-254

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, MAY 9, 2008 -- The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during its quarterly meeting May 16 in Branson. The meeting, which is open to the public, will begin at 9 a.m. in the Bee Creek Conference Room, Second Floor, Branson Convention Center, 200 East Main St. 

Twenty-eight nominations are scheduled to be considered for listing in the National Register. Properties on the ag`enda include historic residences, commercial buildings, historic districts, and a Santa Fe Trail site. More than 1,200 historic resources are represented in the nominations.

The following property in Miller County is being considered:

Best known for its role in creating Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks, the Bagnell Dam and Osage Power Plant in Lake Ozark, Miller County, was constructed in 1929-1931. Funded by Union Electric Light and Power Co. (now Ameren UE), the 2,543 feet long gravity dam and hydroelectric power generating plant cost $30 million to build and employed  20,500 workers over the course of two years. Designed by Stone and Weber, Inc. of Boston, the dam and plant went online in October 1931, providing power to Rivermines and St. Louis. In the early years, the plant provided from one-fourth to one-third of Union Electric's power needs.

Other properties that are being considered follow:

            In addition to nominations to the National Register of Historic Places, the council will receive status reports on programs provided by the State Historic Preservation Office and discuss business related to its own function and duties. Council will also discuss coordination and preparation of Missouri's five-year statewide preservation plan.

The Missouri Advisory Council on Historic Preservation is a 12-member group of historians, architects, archaeologists and citizens with an interest in historic preservation. The council is appointed by the governor and works with the Department of Natural Resources' State Historic Preservation Office, which administers the National Register program for Missouri. The council meets quarterly to review Missouri property nominations to the National Register, the nation's honor roll of historic properties. Approved nominations are forwarded to the Keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C., for final approval.

For more information about the May 16 meeting or the council, call the State Historic Preservation Office at 573-751-7858 or the department toll free at 800-334-6946.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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