One of this year’s Emporia Community Foundation Match Day participants has been added to the Kansas Register of Historic Places and is now nominated for the National Register.
The Latimer Lutheran Church was added to the Kansas Register on Saturday because of its architectural significance and design as a World War II Regimental Chapel. In making the announcement, the Kansas Historical Society said the chapel was “a great example of an army airfield church.”
Built in 1942, the chapel was moved in full to its current location in Latimer in 1949 once the Herington airfield was decommissioned. The Latimer Lutheran Church Preservation Society has been involved in Match Day for two straight years, raising funds for restoration, maintenance and upkeep. The society says the designation opens up additional venues for grant funding and “heritage tourism” while offering educational activities at the same time.
A decision on being added to the National Register could come by summer 2024, if not sooner.
