While Elvis Presley's haircut will undoubtedly continue to get top billing, other aspects of Fort Chaffee's military history are also being recognized in efforts to secure a National Register designation for Fort Chaffee.
A nomination will be made Wednesday to the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program's Review Committee to have the Camp Chaffee Tank Destroyer Battalion Historic District. If approved, the nomination will be forwarded to be considered for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.
Ivy Owen, executive director of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, said the nomination grew from a suggestion by preservation officials after a 2010 bid to have the Fort Chaffee Barbershop Museum placed on the register.
The idea has dovetailed with the designation of a historic area as part of the Chaffee Crossing Redevelopment Plan. Opened to the public in 2008, the Barbershop Museum memorializes the location of the first military haircut of rock'n'roll icon Elvis Presley. Owen said altogether Presley spent two days at the base upon his 1958 induction into the Army. It features a restoration of the site of the historic haircut - including a barber chair - and other Elvis memorabilia. An annual re-enactment of the haircut on its March 25 anniversary is attracting a growing number of fans.
Owen said the National Register designation is only part of work that has been going on toward development of the district as an attraction. A nonprofit entity, the Camp Chaffee Historic Preservation Organization, has incorporated with the intent of raising funds for the renovation of certain buildings in the district. Owen said he was told chances for the designation would be better if the nomination were expanded to include the area of World War II-era barracks and buildings of the former military base that surrounds the museum. The National Register nomination seeks to recognize the district under its local significance criterion.
(Source: South West Times)
