Former Pizza Ranch building
The City of Jefferson is looking to incorporate another downtown building as part of its historic district.
City Administrator Mike Palmer says about ten years ago, the City established a historic district for portions of the downtown area. The City Council approved, at their regular meeting on January 13th, an amendment to an agreement with a consultant, Molly Myers Naumann, an amount not to exceed $500, to include the former Pizza Ranch as part of the historic district. Palmer notes that the building that sustained major fire damage in 2016 wasn’t originally historically significant, but due to the recent renovations, it can be considered as a contributing building.
Palmer compares the building to the one on 200 East State Street, where Heartland Bank is located.
“It had gone through a number of renovations over the years and things have been taken off of it. But there was enough of what they call ‘the fabric’ there. The arch windows were still there, at least the brickwork for them. It was pretty much intact from when it was built. So that’s considered a contributing building (to the historic district).”
Palmer says the consultant will also prepare the necessary paperwork for the former Angie’s Tea Garden building at 100 East State Street. He adds, the major benefit of adding buildings to the historic district allows them to become eligible for federal and state historical tax credits. Click the link below to see a current map of the area that is designated as the historic district.