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city to protect its remaining historic neighborhoods. A group of citizens south of Leeper Park also asked for historic district designation early in 1992. After months of staff research and negotiations etween owners, residents and other interested parties, the South Bend Common Council approved the designation of the River Bend Local Historic District in November. The HPC District Committee, staff and neighborhood have commenced work on guidelines for the district early this year. It is hoped that standards will be in place by mid -summer or earlier. The HPC has also received inquiries from the Lincolnway West Business Association about a possible district along their stretch of thoroughfare; residents in the Chapin Park National Register District are also gathering support for a possible designation attempt in that neighborhood. It is evident that interest in the benefits and protection offered by historic districts remains strong throughout the city; the HPC can count River Bend LHD as a successful response to this interest! STAFF GOALS FOR 1993 The primary goal for the first half of this year is to assemble and publish the Summary Report. Due to our many historic landmark and historic district projects and the ongoing COA/ Legal issues the HPC is involved with, there will be little time to take on additional projects or responsibilities. I have set aside time for our Research Historian, Dr. Sushmita Hodges, to work on the "Save Outdoor Sculpture" survey project we have volunteered to undertake under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution, National -Museum of Art and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Dr. Hodges will ring the research portion of the project to a close by the end of January; staff will then fill out descriptive forms and take photographs of the various sculptures. For our purposes, photocopies of all data gathered for this project will be deposited in HPC files for future reference, making this project locally useful as well. After the survey publication is complete at the end of June -- and assuming we receive grant funding through the state preservation office -- we will commence with our next set of projects: 1. publish a Design Guidelines Booklet for Local Historic Districts and Landmarks; 2. publish an updated brochure explaining Local and National Register Districts; 3. continue the update of city computer database and; 4. set up a county computer database. CONCLUSION The staff remains committed to continuing to be a part of the effort to preserve the cultural and historical heritage of the community. However it remains imperative that the HPC find the means with which to expand its professional staff as it takes on additional administrative responsibilities -- specifically, new historic districts and expanded regulation. The staff has reached the point where it cannot take on additional work or projects: the addition of a full-time Administrative Assistant and at least a part-time secretary would provide the leeway with C to hire additional consultants to undertake grant projects, freeing � ttp the Director and Administrative Assistant to concentrate their energies on the myriad of tasks necessary to be a successful and engaged M