Donna Deetz, president of the Historic City of Jefferson, will be speaking at the 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, 2022 meeting of Columbia’s newly formed Historic Preservation Alliance of Columbia.

HPAC’s meeting will be in the Friends Room of the Columbia Public Library at Garth and Broadway,

Deetz’s historic preservation accomplishments include rehabilitating several buildings including the Heinrich Funeral Home, which is now a retreat center. As a part of her efforts with the Historic City of Jefferson, she led the renovation of Caretaker’s Cottage in the National Cemetery in Jefferson City. She has also been instrumental in establishing HCJ’s Architectural Salvage Program.

The Historic City of Jefferson was founded in 1983 following the destruction of 140-year old Cole County Jail in 1982. The jail at East McCarty and Monroe streets was recognized as one of the oldest remaining jailhouses west of the Mississippi River. The shock of this demolition led to the founding of the Historic City of Jefferson preservation 501c3 that today has about 400 members and is one of the largest such groups in mid-Missouri.

On Sept. 27, Deetz will share with the newly formed Historic Preservation Alliance Columbia how to start a successful preservation group.

The Historic Preservation Alliance of Columbia held its first meeting in May 2022 and has since hammered out three goals: To stop the demolition of historic buildings, convey the importance of history and historic preservation and get historic salvage materials into the economy.

The founding of HPAC coincided with the demolition of several historically significant buildings at MU as part of its space reduction program. Those demolitions included the destruction of Columbia’s first hospital, Parker Hall, and the university’s first women’s dormitory, Read Hall.