McKinley Park School

The McKinley Park School at 925 Riverside Drive was listed on the City of Reno Register of Historic Places in 2000. The building was built in 1909 and was one of four local schools designed in the Mission Revival style by George Ferris. Today, the City of Reno Arts and Culture Department shares office space in the rehabilitated building with local non-profits focused on the arts. The building is now known at the Arts & Culture Center.

The local register of historic places is an official list of properties that have been deemed historically significant and have gone through the nomination process to be added to the City Register of Historic Places. The City of Reno local register was created in 1993 through the passage of the City’s Historic Preservation ordinance. The local register assists in preserving the exterior of structures and thereby preserving the overall community character and sense of place, promoting community pride in history, inspiring heritage tourism, and improving property values.

View a map of all designated historic resources in the city of Reno

Why add my property to the City of Reno Historic Register?

The City’s Historic Preservation ordinance only applies to properties on the local register. While designation on the National Register of Historic Places provides recognition for a resource’s significance in our shared history, only a designation on the local register provides any protection against alteration or demolition. The City of Reno provides two important mechanisms for the Historical Resources Commission to protect resources that are listed on the local register of historic places:

  1. Certificate of Appropriateness - Before a significant exterior alteration can occur on a building listed on the City of Reno Register of Historic Places, the HRC must issue a Certificate of Appropriateness which allows the HRC to make sure that proposed work won’t have an adverse impact on the property’s historic character. This process is easy and over 95% of applications are approved. 

  2. Demolition Delay - Applications for a permit to demolish a building that is listed on the City Register of Historic Places can be delayed, usually for up to 120 days. This delay allows the HRC to work with property owners to consider alternatives to demolition or to mitigate the loss of the resource if demolition is the only solution.

A locally designated historic resource also may benefit from being eligible for alternative uses other than the use designated by its underlying zoning district as well as having some protection from development on adjacent parcels if that development would adversely affect the historic character or integrity of the historic listing.

Nominate a Resource to the City of Reno Register of Historic Places

Eligibility for the Reno Register of Historic Places is generally limited to resources that are 50 years of age or older and that meet one or more of the following criteria:

  • Historic Listing - The site, building, object, or property is already listed on the National and/or State Register(s) of Historic Places.

  • Historic Significance - The site, building, object, or property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of history or is associated with the lives of persons who contributed significantly to the community.

  • Architectural Significance - The site, building, object, or property:

    • Embodies the distinctive characteristics of an architectural style valuable for the study of a period, type, method of construction, or use of indigenous materials; or

    • Represents the work of a master builder, architect, landscape architect, artist, engineer, or other design professional whose individual work has influenced the development of the community, county, state, or country; or

    • Embodies elements of design, detailing, materials, or craftsmanship that render it architecturally significant; or

    • Represents a particularly fine or unique example of a utilitarian structure, including, but not limited to, farmhouses, gas stations, or other commercial structures, with a high level of integrity or architectural significance. 

  • Informational Significance - The site, building, object, or property has yielded or there is very strong evidence that the resource may be likely to yield information important in Reno prehistory or history.

  • District Significance - The site, property, or area possesses a significant concentration of continuity of land uses, landscapes, buildings, structures, roads and water ways, and natural features with heritage and cultural characteristics. 

Completed nomination forms are considered by the HRC for recommendation to the City Council after a public hearing. All properties listed on the City of Reno Register of Historic Places are approved by the City Council.

To get started with a nomination to the City of Reno Historic Register, start with the Master Application on the Development Services webpage.

For questions about this form, contact Melissa Hafey, Management Assistant Arts & Culture, [email protected] or 775-334-2253

Certificate of Appropriateness Applications

The Certificate of Appropriateness is required whenever substantial exterior work will be performed on any resource listed on the City of Reno Register of Historic Places. Interior alterations are exempt from the Certificate of Appropriateness process as well as ordinary maintenance or repair of any exterior architectural feature located on a property that is listed on the register if the work does not involve a substantial change in design, material, or outer appearance.

Evaluation of proposed projects is guided by The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. 

To view information about the Certificate of Appropriateness Application, start with the Master Application on the Development Services webpage.