Columnists

Beneath the surface

Recently two state agencies uncovered historical artifacts while pursuing construction projects in downtown Little Rock. Contractors working on the new Broadway Bridge for the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department uncovered remnants of wooden block paving. Meanwhile, workers building a parking lot for the Department of Arkansas Heritage uncovered remains of the 1890s facilities used to maintain and house streetcars.

How these two state agencies reacted to their unexpected archeological discoveries provides vivid testimony to at least some of the problems facing the Department of Arkansas Heritage. The Highway Department called in an archaeologist to record the historical data, then proceeded with bridge construction. Reports have said that, after initially agreeing to investigate the streetcar site, the Department of Arkansas Heritage suddenly changed its mind and its staff archaeologist resigned. Yes, this is the state agency in charge of documenting and preserving our heritage.

Preserving our historical resources has been the policy of the U.S. since Oct. 15, 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson signed the National Historic Preservation Act. The law provided for the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmarks designation for especially important sites, and also provided that all states would have State Historic Preservation Officers. Importantly, Section 106 of the national law requires federal agencies to evaluate the impact of federally funded or permitted projects on historical resources, both buildings and archeological sites.

National historic preservation programs are housed in the U.S. Department of the Interior. The state's preservation efforts are administered by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage. Since its inception in 1969, the state program has identified 2,600-plus historic structures and recommended them to the Interior Department for listing on the National Register. These National Register properties range from the ancient Jacob Wolf House in Baxter County to the small Kansas City Southern Railroad Caboose at Gravette, Benton County. Among the National Historic Landmarks in Arkansas are Central High School in Little Rock and Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs.

Having these properties on the National Register has had a sizable impact on the state's economy. In addition to boosting historical tourism, the historic preservation tax incentives have saved millions of dollars for developers and property owners.

The Department of Arkansas Heritage relocated last year from the Tower Building in downtown Little Rock to a new headquarters at the northern edge of North Street, behind the old Balch Oldsmobile dealership building at Chester and LaHarpe streets. More recently a contract was executed to build a parking lot to serve the new building.

Everything went well until late October when it was discovered that a part of the old streetcar structure was still standing. Departmental staff as well as project architect John Greer agreed that additional documentation was needed. However, the contractor began demolition before learning of the decision to investigate further.

Involved in all this was the Department's archaeologist, Bob Scoggin, whose job as the Section 106 manager for Arkansas was to make sure that projects such the parking lot did not adversely impact historic properties.

Scoggin, at age 50, is an experienced archaeologist with years of work at the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department before joining the Department of Heritage. According to an article in the Arkansas Times, Scoggin was known as a conscientious and cooperative employee. His personnel file included many positive comments, including: "Bob's efforts rebuilding relationships with previously disgruntled constituents has produced better communication . . . Bob's ability to keep an even and calm temperament has been a great aid in steering those situations to a successful conclusion." And, importantly, Scoggin's evaluation concluded that "Bob makes every effort to keep his supervisor and agency head informed regarding any potential controversies involving 106 reviews."

Since the Department of Arkansas Heritage refuses to comment on personnel actions, we do not know why the Department decided to ask Scoggin to resign. Scoggin has refused to make public comments on the loss of his job.

At no time did Scoggin attempt to stop work on the parking lot project, though he did ask for time to document the surviving streetcar facility. Ideal Construction Co., the parking lot contractor, did complain about lost time and added costs, but Ideal's project manager, Matthew Karpoff, admitted in an email that Scoggin was "working diligently and as quick as possible."

Scoggin also worked to ensure that his employer would not be required to file a Section 106 report on the impact of the parking lot--which could have caused a major delay.

A great deal remains unclear about how and why a dedicated and skilled state employee lost his job. The impression among many in the history community is that Scoggin ran afoul of Heritage Department director Stacy Hurst. That might be explained by Hurst's complete lack of background in heritage-related matters. Whatever the explanation, Hurst's action in the Scoggin case has sent a chilling message to all her employees.

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Tom Dillard is a historian and retired archivist living near Glen Rose in rural Hot Spring County. Email him at [email protected].

Editorial on 01/22/2017

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