Multimedia Reporting (Bradford-Utsler)

Lynne Braddock-Zollner doesn’t want future generations of Lawrence residents to look at the Lawrence Register of Historic Places and see only high-style, architecturally advanced, commercial and residential properties.

Braddock-Zollner, the city’s Historic Resources Administrator, knows that if this happens future residents will say, ‘Wow, look how everyone lived,’ - a clear contrast to the city’s history. Instead, the mission of the Historic Resources Commission (HRC) and of the Lawrence register is to preserve the entire character of the community, from the fine commercial properties to the poor worker’s home, so that generations can have a tangible account of the city’s history.

“The important part is giving something tangible to what we read about in history books. They [Lawrence residents] don’t just read about it, they can go and visit these places,” Braddock-Zollner said.

This fall the HRC added Grover Barn, the only structure still standing in Lawrence today with a direct connection to the Underground Railroad, to the city register of historic places. The city commission is now considering a proposal from the Underground Railroad Association of Douglas County to transform the barn into a museum. This summer the site will be vacant for the first time since 1982, when it was renovated and extended to accommodate city fire station No.4. The additions of properties like Grover Barn to the register guarantee the preservation of their historical significance. But they also give property owners the prestige and attention that is necessary to fund projects that could bring the history of these structures out from the text books and into the lives of residents.

Historic Grover Barn will be left vacant this summer when firefighters at Fire Station No. 4 move to a new location as part of the city's public safety plan.

The HRC and the Lawrence Register of Historic Places were both set up through the city’s conservation of historic resources code, chapter 22, with the intent to identify, protect and preserve historic sites within the city of Lawrence. To date, there are over 90 Lawrence properties and 10 historic districts individually listed on the city, state and national registers. The state and national registers, governed by the Kansas State Historical Society and the National Parks Service, respectively, serve as models for the city of Lawrence’s mission to protect and maintain the character of historic sites and properties that make them significant to the city’s history.

According to the Underground Railroad Association's proposal to the city commission, in 1857 abolitionist Joel Grover began construction of a barn on his property, located on what today is Stonebarn Terrace in Lawrence, Kan. He documented the construction of the barn - where he acquired the wood and stones- in a diary now showcased in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library on the University of Kansas campus. Soon after the barn’s completion in 1858, it began serving as an Underground Railroad station; sheltering abolitionists and the African-American slaves they were helping escape from slave territories throughout the south.

In January 1859, Grover and his wife, Emily, welcomed to Grover Barn abolitionist John Brown and a group of 11 slaves escaping slaveholders in Missouri. This stop would be Brown’s last along the Kansas Underground Railroad and the most researched and famous event to transpire within the walls of the barn.

Judy Sweets, co-founder of the Underground Railroad Association of Douglas County, said it is not only the rich history of events that transpired within the barn but a desire to commemorate the actions of the Grover family that lead the association to propose the development of The Grover Barn Underground Railroad Interpretive Center/ Abolition Museum.

“The thing about the Grovers is that they were a young couple, they had an 18-month child when the group came in with John Brown. We feel that they were just so courageous to let these slaves stay there, because they could have been fined or sent to prison,” Sweets said.

Sweets and the association proposed the abolition museum to the city in February. If city commissioners accept the proposal, the most recent addition to the barn would showcase interactive wall maps of Underground Railroad routes, photographs, artifacts and interactive exhibits. All oriented toward teaching visitors the unique history of Grover Barn and of the Kansas Underground Railroad, as well as linking the site to the struggle for freedom that was occurring at a national level prior to the civil war.

According to the proposal, the barn would stay “close to the original appearance, with minimal exhibits.” Sweets said that museum visitors would enter the barn after viewing the educational exhibits of the modern museum. “Then people could go into the actual barn and see the ax’s marks on the wood, the actual stone and the place where the slaves were,” Sweets said.

Since the February proposal, the city has shown interest in the museum. Sue Hack, city commissioner, said the abolition museum is a perfect example of creative reuse of a historic structure. However, the city will not approve the plan until they are certain that the association has the funding to operate and maintain the building.

“As to funding, business plans, etc., those are still in the planning stages,” Hack said.

Sweets said the association hopes to raise $250,000 by December 2007 and is currently working on a market analysis to present to city commissioners upon its completion later this year.

Although there is no financial gain for a property after being added to the Lawrence Register of Historic Places, there are a number of other incentives. For the city, placing a site like Grover Barn on the register guarantees that even if the property is relinquished to private hands any changes to that structure must be approved through a design review process by the HRC and the city commission.

“I think that it gives some level of security that the building, or at least the façade of the building, will be maintained for the pleasure of the public,” Braddock-Zollner said of the city’s incentive to have Grover Barn added to the register.

Unlike the city register, financial incentives through tax credit programs are available to properties listed on the state and national registers of historic places. However, because the architectural integrity of Grover Barn was compromised through various additions and modifications, it is ineligible for listing on either the state or national register.

Nevertheless, Sweets and the association believe that the addition of the barn to the Lawrence register will help the development of the abolition museum in ways far beyond documenting the historic site. The association believe the listing will attract corporate and private donors who are looking to contribute to a historic site.

“I think that when talking with possible donors the fact that it is on the [city's] historic preservation register will help,” Sweets said.

For example, the listing of Grover Barn on the register may make it eligible to receive funding from a federal bill, currently being entertained, that would establish a national heritage area for much of eastern Kansas, including historic properties within Lawrence. The establishment of the Bleeding Kansas and the Enduring Struggle for Freedom National Heritage Area would allocate $10 million to heritage tourism efforts in parts of Kansas and Missouri.

“I think this [Grover Barn] would be one of the major sites on the national heritage area if that were passed,” Sweets said when talking about foundations and grants that may contribute the development of the museum.

As a preservationist, the designation of properties like Grover Barn to the Lawrence Register of Historic Places eases two of Braddock-Zollner’s primary concerns about historic properties.

The first is that the building will be used. “It has been proven that buildings that are used have a longer lifespan than buildings that sit vacant,” Braddock-Zollner said.

At Grover Barn, for the prospective owners of the Underground Railroad Association, the listing on the register will help attract the necessary funds to develop the abolition museum which will attract residents, visitors and tour groups to the site each day.

The second concern is that the building is being used in a compatible way, so as not to harm the historic integrity.

Regardless of the city’s decision about the proposed museum, the listing of Grover Barn on the register guarantees the protection of the structure and of the historical significance the property brings to the community.

Watch here to learn more about the history of Grover Barn.

Read the Underground Railroad Association of Douglas County's proposal for an abolition museum.