After nearly a year of work, two historic Jefferson City properties will receive the highest recognition available.
Simonsen 9th Grade Center and Orchard Acres will join notable properties around the country on the National Register of Historic Places list.
The decision came earlier this month from the National Parks Service.
While there's plans for Simonsen School, the future role Orchard Acres will play in Jefferson City is still being discussed.
Both were added to the Missouri Register of Historic Places in July.
Simonsen 9th Grade Center
Going on the National Register of Historic Places was the Simonsen 9th Grade Center's first step in being developed into apartments.
Ernst Simonsen High School, at 501 E. Miller St., was built in 1926 and last hosted students in May 2019.
Allyn Witt, property co-owner and director of development at Tegethoff Development - which is supporting the project - said finally receiving the recognition is a weight off her chest.
"It was a really wonderful day when we got that news because this is something we've been working on for a little over a year now," she said. "We knew we could get there, it was just a time consuming step, so the fact that we have received that status really gets us excited and energized for the next steps in the process."
Witt said the next step is to apply for Missouri's Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, which opens Dec. 1.
The tax credit is a 20 percent credit for the rehabilitation of historic, income-producing buildings that are considered "certified historic structures," according to Technical Preservation Services.
If that goes through, she said, work could begin in March or April to turn the building into 71 apartment units.
The $16 million project also includes a fitness center, cyber lounge, tenant storage, bike storage, patio and dog-wash station.
The development plan includes maintaining historic elements of the building.
The school is the oldest remaining high school in Jefferson City and was one of the first two schools to racially integrate in 1954. It has had several additions through the years to add classrooms, a gymnasium and auditorium.
The building was damaged shortly after it stopped hosting students in the May 2019 tornado.
Orchard Acres
For the owners of Orchard Acres, putting it on the National Register of Historic Places is a way of recognizing the family.
Orchard Acres, at 2113 W. Main St., served as a single-family home and the lab of Dr. Everett Sugarbaker.
During his time in the home, starting in 1950, Sugarbaker conducted cancer research and experiments on the property while living there with his wife, Geneva, and 10 children.
The home itself was built in 1937 and includes roughly 13.5 acres of land.
The Sugarbaker family still owns the property.
Rena Pedersen, granddaughter of Everett and Geneva, said when Geneva died a few years ago, the family had to decide what to do with the home.
"Everybody just loves it so much," she said. "We were all there, like 30-some grandchildren, all visited there probably every year of our childhood. It's just such an extraordinary building."
While they haven't decided what to do with the property, Pedersen said there are some ideas.
Previously, the family talked with JC Parks about an all-inclusive park on the property.
"We haven't decided anything; nothing has been set in stone yet," she said. "We thought that getting the National Register status first would kind of give us a better way of deciding what's going to be the best use of the home in the future. Now that we have that, we can kind of open up. Do we want a library or a museum, or do we want to have community events. There's just so many different options."
The property is actually joining the National Register of Historic Places for two reasons: Dr. Everett Sugarbaker's historic significance and the building's architectural style.
It was built in the Regency Colonial building style, which is generally more ornate than traditional Colonial buildings and focuses on the symmetry of the home.
"We wanted to acknowledge the legacy that my grandparents had in Jeff City and also the rarity of the style of the home," Pedersen said.