New bill focuses on museum, cultural districts

Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe and other local lawmakers celebrated the signing of a bill they say is important to Joplin. Senate Bill 397, or the Missouri Museum and Cultural District Act, extends the time period for property owners to form a Museum and Cultural District following a Presidential declaration establishing a disaster area from 5 to 15 years. For Joplin, this extends the time period that had expired as of May 2016 to May of 2026.

“It allows a community like Joplin to do the right thing that they did first after such a horrible disaster in 2011. They rebuilt homes, schools and hospitals and they put those priorities first, and that should have been first,” said Kehoe. “You hate to see a community penalized with some arbitrary timeline that doesn’t allow them to establish a cultural district.”

“It’ll give the community plenty of time to get to that next step with the district. Certainly the things around the horizon between Connect2Culture that’s happening now…and the Harry Cornell Arts and Entertainment Complex that’s soon to come up. It’s going to be a real diamond in the southwest Missouri corner here all anchored by Joplin and we’re excited to see it,” added Kehoe.

Sponsors Senator Bill White and Representative Lane Roberts were on hand as it passed the Senate 33-0 and the House 140-3 with 17 abstentions.