Creston history group tells its plans
Feb. 13—Creston Historic Preservation Commission Chairman Jane Briley met with Creston City Council Tuesday about the commission's work and plans for 2024.
Briley said Creston is one of 90 locations in the state with a historic commission.
During 2023, Briley said commission members have met with Union County Board of Supervisors and representatives from Afton, Shannon City and Lorimor to help with funds to digitize Union County newspapers. Some papers go back to late 1880s.
Having these records do benefit commission plans, Briley said.
"It helps us. If we find a property, for example have Rainbow Park put on the historic register, we can go in and find information necessary like when it actually started, all of those kind of things," she said.
Other events the commission has done has been to showcase Iowana Hotel.
"We showed what it used to look like before renovations and a tour of what it is like now," she said. The commission is considering organizing another event for Creston's former post office building in the 200 block of North Maple Street.
Briley said research is being done on creating a QR code scavenger hunt showcasing the history of participating buildings. With a smartphone, people can scan a code at a building and learn the property's history.
"I hope it will be informative and people will learn about buildings in Creston," she said.
Briley said the event coul be used as a fundraiser for a matching grant to place canopies on the north side of the Restored Depot."
