The Coeur d’Alene City Council made a little history Tuesday night.

Nine local history buffs were appointed to the newly created Historic Preservation Commission, the first team to oversee the city’s commitment to prioritizing Coeur d’Alene’s past while pursuing grants to maintain an additional stream of revenue.

Jonathan Mueller of Architects West has almost 40 years of experience in planning projects, ranging from Parks and Recreation development, planning and design, urban planning, and public space projects. The landscape architect also authored “Private Park Public Park: A Story of Coeur d’Alene and Its First Park.”

Courtney Beebe was chosen in part because of her experience on the Museum of North Idaho Board of Directors, which she serves as secretary.

Lisa Straza is a Realtor at Tomlinson Sotheby’s who worked to move the J.C. White House to its new home by Tubbs Hill. She has some familiarity with the project from her experiences in California.

“I had worked with the Del-Mar Historical Society, and I had just loved the work I was able to help with,” she said. “We were in the beginning of putting in a new City Hall down there, and we had an old building that was about to be torn down that was moved to our fairgrounds.”

Straza said her appointment represents a larger labor of love.

“There’s a lot of time and a lot of volunteer work we did [with the White House move] because we love history and we want to make history as accessible as we can here.”

Walter Burns is a construction management consultant and senior designer for The Other Studio, a firm he founded. Burns also sits on the Kootenai County Historic Preservation Commission along with Mueller and fellow appointee Robert Singletary.

Singletary, who chairs the county commission, serves as program and marketing director for the Museum of North Idaho. When he’s not writing books about Coeur d’Alene’s history, you can often find him in the warmer months giving living history walking tours around the area.

Anneliese Miller is a Coeur d’Alene architect who served on the Human Rights Education Institute. The past president of HREI has been involved with both the museum and the institute’s gallery.

Dave Walker is a longtime community volunteer. The former Coeur d’Alene City Councilman worked on the development of Car d’Lane and was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award in 2009.

Sandy Emerson is a local real estate pillar who also served as manager of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce for six years. He said the chance to be named to the Historic Preservation Commission was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“Kiki Miller is a council member I respect, and she said I was going to be on it,” Emerson said. “She recruited me … Our family history here goes way back … I think the commission has been a long time coming.”

Alexandria Marienau rounds out the list of nine appointees to serve on the Historic Preservation Commission. Marienau is a transportation planner and University of Idaho graduate who studied bioregional planning and community design, as well as natural resource management.

“It’s important to our community that we highlight and preserve our history,” Mayor Steve Widmyer said. “The city is excited to start this new commission that will assist with that. We are grateful for the volunteers who will give of their time to be a part of this.”