THREATENED PLACES

Chattanooga has lost numerous historic and valuable buildings over the years, affecting the city's identity. Preserve Chattanooga aims to educate and persuade property owners to protect significant architectural heritage.

Advocacy

Protecting Historic Places in Chattanooga

In Chattanooga, there are two primary ways to protect historic resources from being demolished or significantly altered:

  1. The historic resource can be individually designated a Local Historic Landmark (LHL) or an entire neighborhood can be designated a Local Historic District (LHD). This process is outlined in Article II, Chapter 10 of the City Code. LHL’s and LHD’s are governed by design guidelines and reviewed by the Chattanooga Historic Zoning Commission. Chattanooga has four Local Historic Districts (Battery Place, Ferger Place, Fortwood, and St. Elmo) and one Local Historic Landmark (the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Shavin House).

  2. A preservation easement (also known as a facade easement) is a voluntary legal agreement that can provide assurance that a historic property’s most important features will be preserved, even when changes in ownership occur. Certain tax benefits may result from donating a preservation easement on certified historic commercial structures. Preserve Chattanooga currently holds seven such easements.

Preserve Chattanooga’s vision for the community is to have every certified historic structure (National Register) designated as a Local Historic Landmark and every certified historic neighborhood designated a Local Historic District.