Historic Structure Reports: Resources for Stewardship

LIZ PIMPER

Hello, and welcome to today's WJE webinar. Historic Structure Reports: Resources for Stewardship. My name is Liz Pimper, and I'll be your moderator. During the next hour, historian, and conservator Deborah Slaton, and historical architects, Mike Ford, and Tim Penich will provide an overview of historic structure reports, and related studies, the benefits to having one, and the process through which the reports are developed. This presentation is copyrighted by Wiss, Janney, Elstner, and Associates. And now I will turn it over to Deborah to get us started. Deborah?

DEBORAH SLATON

Thank you, Liz. I'd like to briefly introduce our presenters. My name is Deborah Slaton. As Liz mentioned, I'm a conservator, and historian with WJE. And a few years ago I had the honor of authoring National Park Service Preservation Brief 43 on the preparation use of historic structure reports. My co-presenters today are Mike Ford, and Tim Penich. Mike is an historical architect with WJE specializing in the development of foundational preservation documents repairing construction documents, and materials conservation. And Tim is an historical architect with WJE specializing in development of historic structure reports, cultural landscape reports, historic American building survey documentation, national register nominations, and architectural historical surveys.

Here are our learning objectives for continuing education credits today. And here's an outline of our presentation. We'll be discussing historic structure reports, also known by the acronym HSRs. Their definition, and origins purpose, and use, and scope, and methodology of projects, we'll be reviewing the organization, and contents of the reports, and in addition to condition assessment, how we evaluate architectural characters' significance, and integrity. And finally, we'll be talking about standards, and treatment recommendations developed as part of HSRs. We'll be using small case study examples throughout the presentation, and concluding with four case studies shown here in a bit more detail.

MIKE FORD

Hi, this is Mike Ford. First of all, maybe we want to define what a historic structures report is, and we'll be referring to that as an HSR throughout the duration of the presentation. And that is an HSR is a comprehensive planning document. It's one of those foundational preservation planning documents that is intended to provide a thorough record of the existing historic resource, allowing for a more holistic approach to stewardship of the resource. Now, when I say historic resource, I don't necessarily mean that it is a landmark, or that it is listed on the national register, but it has historic significance, and the potential to be eligible for such a designation, and thus should be treated as such. Typically, these structures are 50 years old, or older, but not necessarily. And these are unique, and irreplaceable resources. So, the HSR is intended to identify the historic context, and characteristics that convey its significance, provide a chronology of development, and use, identify existing construction, outline the observed conditions, and provide a treatment approach, and treatment recommendations.

Here you'll see the Thomas Moore, sorry, the Moore House Report, which was performed by Charles Peterson in the 1930s. He was an influential architect with the National Park Service, and also developed the Historic American Building Survey. And this report established the general intent, and outline of what we now recognize as the HSR. So, it's considered the first HSR. Before we go too much further, one thing that we often get phone calls from clients wanting to do condition assessments, and they own historic structures, and we often have that conversation with them about what their intent is with this. And here's an example of Alligator Reef Lighthouse, which was the client came to us wanting a condition assessment for this property that they had recently acquired, so they could get a better understanding of what repairs would be required under their stewardship. And the structure has a very unique history to it, and we recommended that we do an HSR so that we could capture that previously an HSR had never been done.

So, this would allow us the opportunity to compile the history as well as the conditions, and then thus recommend a repair approach, and treatment approach that would have a more holistic approach using its conditions as well as our knowledge of the history, and how it evolved over time. Next, we have the Coronado Theater. Here, it was brought to our attention there is a distress condition that the client wanted us to look at. And through our conversation with them, we identified that this building historic structures report might be the best approach, and the year 2000, this building had been rehabilitated, and so the HSR would allow us the opportunity to, one had not been done before would allow us the opportunity to document what remained that was historic, and so that as we... It also helped us pinpoint a project to address this more imminent concern of the cast stone, and the steel framed windows. So, the historic structures report was helpful in not only establishing a baseline for further repairs to this, but also in identifying a scope of work to treat this more eminently important condition.

Next I'll talk about Couch Tomb, which was again, the client requested that we do a condition assessment, and we discussed expanding that to do a historic structure report because for a variety of reasons, one, again, it had not had an HSR before, and has a very unique history. But also it allowed us the opportunity to document some of the unique construction methods such as the leaded joints between stone units, and the monolithic stone slab at the roof, as well as develop a long-term repair approaches, and kind of a treatment recommendation. This is a tomb. And so even the idea of how that's interpreted in the site, and how invasive you would want to be on that, those conversations were addressed in the HSR. I'll now pass it to my colleague Tim Penich.

TIM PENICH

Thank you, Mike. Although Mike slightly touched on the purpose, and use of an HSR, I'll go into that a little more in depth. First, and foremost, an HSR is a planning document, and it can help guide future work on a building as a treatment approach will be established based on the significance of the building with recommendations for future work also included as part of the report. The HSR can provide historical information about the building, which can all be compiled, and contained in a single document. The report can help guide building owners in determining budgets, and schedule planning for future work on the historic structure. It can serve as a basis of design for future recommended work. Recommendations can outline what future work should be undertaken, and provide ideas that are in line with the selected treatment approach.

Theoretically, an HSR would, as I previously stated, would include all of the key information about the structure in one place, historical information about its history, information about the current condition of the structure, as well as past work that was completed on the structure. As a planning document, and having everything in one spot. It can easily be used by building owners, and can be passed down to new building owners, or to new managers if there's a change in personnel, or ownership. As previously stated, it has all of this information in the building. So, for instance, for public building, this might be a resource for those who are looking for information on the building, and it can also help influence some future work on the building that may not have been planned when the HSR was developed.

And finally, it can serve as a record of completed work. So, as I previously stated, as part of the history, or the HSR would include a record of previous work that was done on the building, whether that was replacement of a roof, or something more significant like an addition to the structure. Depending on the scope involved, and the needs of the client, and the complexity of the building, and the project, a wide range of disciplines can be used to help develop the report. And here's just a brief list, the types of professionals who might be engaged in the completion of an HSR. Looking at the scope, and methodology, and how one goes about developing an HSR, typically the first steps are a preliminary walkthrough, and undertaking research, and review any archival documentation that's available. This helps the architect, or those preparing the HSR to get a better feel for the building, how complex it is. Sometimes a preliminary walkthrough might occur as part of the proposal phase, and it helps to plan for future site work in support of the HSR.

The background research can include information provided by the owner on past work that they've completed, as well as it might include information that would be available in archives, or other depositories such as a local library. Usually we found it's good to have this information before we get on site as it can help you understand what work has been done to the building, and potentially why work was done to the building. The on-site work once you have a better understanding of the building, once you've completed the initial research, and archival documentation includes an investigation, reviewing the building, and any structures this can take depending on the complexity of the structure, and the size. It could sometimes take a day, a part of a day, or sometimes it could take several days, or even weeks. And in addition, multiple visits are sometimes required. Using the information gained on site, you can begin to develop a description of the structure, and outline any notable conditions that might be present.

As part of this initial on-site investigation, you can take measurements to help develop measured drawings if needed, and then conduct any additional assessments, or studies that are needed based on the information that was gathered during research, and your time on site, then you can determine why the building's significant. In some cases this might already be known depending on the building, and you can also begin to assess the building's integrity, and both of these topics will be discussed further in the presentation. Finally, once you understand the significance of the building, you understand what conditions are present, you can select a treatment approach, and there are four approaches outlined in the secretary of the interior standards, which Deborah will go into further in our presentation. And once you've decided on approach, then you can develop specific recommendations for repair of the building.

And then once you have all this information, you can put it together into a report, and the report can be developed in a variety of formats. Different public organizations have different preferences, and typically the reports are pretty extensive depending on the size of the building. They could range from 50 pages for a small structure to 200, 500, and sometimes nearly a thousand pages depending on the scope of the project. So, now to go into what actually is in the report, this is an outline showing what a typical report contains. First you have an introduction. This kind of gives you any relevant background information, a summary of the study area as well as any relevant project data. Part one, typically the HSR is considered to have two parts. Part one is the developmental history. It includes a brief history of the building in its context, discussion of its designers, and builders, and any other important persons associated with its history, and development. The chronology of development, and use would describe the building as it was originally constructed, and then go into any modifications, or change in uses.

And this is all based on historic documentation, research, and physical evidence seen on site. The physical description describes the building, describes individual elements, materials, as well as spaces of the building, including significant, and nonsignificant features of the building. Next is the evaluation of significance, a discussion of significant features, original, and non-original materials, and elements, and also an identification of the period, or periods of significance. And then the condition assessment would describe any notable conditions of building materials elements as well as the potential causes of that deterioration. And a discussion of if it was undertaken as part of the study materials testing, and analysis. Part two of the HSR goes into the treatment recommendations. First, there's the historic preservation objectives which would describe the recommended treatment, and provide a rationale for why it was selected, and how it meets the project goals for future use of the building. Requirements of work outlines any laws, regulation, and other functional requirements that are applicable to the recommended work areas.

And then finally, the work recommendations, and alternatives presents different tasks recommended to realize the proposed treatment approach, evaluates the solutions, and then describes specific recommendations for work including alternates if appropriate. And then finally, the end of the presentation includes a bibliography which outlines any sources used in developing the report. And then appendices may contain additional scope items that may not typically be seen in the HSR, but are certainly related to the building, and its planning such as a structural analysis finishes analysis, drawings that were developed, and any relevant previous studies on the structures that might be relevant to the building. Here's a picture of preservation brief 43, which I believe a link to this document's included in today as part of the presentation. This is document that was written by Deborah Slaton, and is printed by the National Park Service, and is a good reference, and resource when developing HSRs.

So, now I'm just going to go through a few small case studies to give you an idea of what additional types of studies might be included as part of the development of an HSR. This is Bluffs Lodge, which is a multi-building, former lodge on the blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The building dates to 1949, 1950. Currently, the building's mothballed, and is awaiting potential reuse, and WJE was engaged by the National Park Service to perform an HSR for this structure, and given some of the conditions that were present, including water infiltration, deterioration of some of the exterior envelope materials, an additional study as part of the HSR, which required the use of an industrial hygienist was included in this report. Additionally, HABS, Historic American Building Survey level drawings were included as part of this project.

Evans Rendezvous is a historic nightclub building in American Beach, Florida on Amelia Island. Constructed in circa 1951, Evans Rendezvous was a popular destination when beaches in Florida were segregated. WJE was engaged by the Nassau County who owns the structure to develop an HSR. And in addition to the HSR, the client requested a structural analysis to help them further plan for reuse. And this analysis included an assessment of the foundation survey of the concrete slab, and a voiding assessment to determine the extent of any voids that might be beneath the concrete slab. And finally, this is the Flamingo Visitor Center in Everglades National Park in Florida. In addition to the HSR which was completed for this building as well as some surrounding buildings also constructed in the late 1950s, WJE was asked to perform a finishes analysis to help determine the historic color scheme. As you can see in the top left photo, the building had kind of a buff color. When we performed our site work, we had seen documentation including this postcard in the bottom left that showed the building with a different color scheme with some pink, and blue colors.

As a result of the finishes analysis that was completed as part of the HSR project, the park was able to restore the exterior of the building to its original color scheme, which can be seen on the right. In addition to the finishes analysis, WJE developed concrete repair details that reflected the recommendations that were in the HSR. These details helped illustrate the recommendations, and guide future work that would to be undertaken by NPS on the building. Holly Hill is a historic residence in Roswell, Georgia, and WJE was engaged to perform a historic structure report, but the client, the city of Roswell was also interested into recommendations on the site. So, WJE engaged a historical landscape architect who provided recommendations for site, and connections for the site as well as connections to the neighboring properties.

Coquille River Lighthouse is a historic lighthouse on the coast of Oregon. WJE was engaged to update a previous HSR. While an HSR is a comprehensive report, there are times when you might need to update it, and develop either a completely new report, or an amendment to the previous report. This HSR identified different layers of significance of the building, and the site, and it also led to design charrettes for possible interpretive use of the site in the future. And now I will pass it to Deborah Slaton who will discuss architectural character.

DEBORAH SLATON

Thank you, Tim. Architectural character is one of the aspects of historic structures that we consider together with our condition assessment. And the Secretary of the Interior's standards embody two goals, preservation of historic materials, and preservation of a building's distinguishing character. Character refers to the visual aspects, and physical features that comprise the appearance of every historic building, and structure. National Park Service Preservation Brief 17 by Lee Nelson provides useful guidance in identifying character-defining features, the elements that give the building its visual character, and that should be preserved as an example. Let's look at the Henry O. Bowman residence in Los Angeles designed by Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son in 1923. Here the character-defining features include the configuration of the building, rectangular with flat roofs, the projecting balconies, the terraces, and patios, the exposed concrete block on both the exterior, and interior of the building, which was an innovative design feature here, as well as the stucco exterior decorative block at certain locations, and the window openings, and configurations.

In addition to establishing architectural character, and the character-defining features, the HSR considers the significance of the historic resource. The National Register of Historic Places provides four primary criteria that allow us to evaluate significance in terms of history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. Criterion A associated with significant events, criterion B, associated with significant persons criterion C, embodying distinctive characteristics of a type period, or method of construction, representing the work of a master possessing high artistic values, or representing a significant, and distinguishable entities components may lack individual distinction, think ranch houses, or finally criterion D, the archeological criterion yielding information important in prehistory, or history. As some examples, criterion A associated with significant events in our history. We can consider Fort Pulaski, it's moat, and demilune shown here. Criterion B associated with significant persons, we can look at the small house that was the home of civil rights leader, Medgar Evers, and his wife Murley, and their family in Jackson. Criterion C, This particular example highlights work of a master.

It's the Farnsworth House in Plano Illinois designed by Mies van der Rohe, and criterion D, information important in prehistory, or history illustrated by a cistern in the workers' village at Fort Pulaski National Monument. So, keeping in mind the four criteria for significance of which a resource may represent one, or several, we also consider the period of significance which refers to the span of time during which significant events, and activities occurred. Events, and associations with historic properties are finite. Properties usually have a clearly definable period of significance, although it may be narrow, a single date, or year, or it may be broad, multiple years, decades, or even centuries. Using Fort Pulaski as our example again, the primary period of significance is the Civil War, and specifically the dates of April 10th, and 11th, 1862 during which bombardment by US forces with the new rifle cannon led to rapid surrender by Confederate forces. And in addition to a significant historical event in itself, signaled the end of the use of brick masonry fortifications for coastal defenses.

And finally related to significance, we also consider integrity. The National Register identifies seven aspects of integrity, location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and integrity is judged by whether the significant features are present, and whether the property retains, and continues to convey its historic identity. The example on the left is a post trader's house at Fort Fred, Steel in Wyoming, which in this photo is seen essentially as a ruin. It was later partially reconstructed, and it maintained its integrity. It conveyed its historic character despite loss of some historic fabric. On the right of Soldier Field in Chicago, an historic view, and a recent view. In this case, Soldier Field lost integrity, and in fact was designated from the national because of the large addition added to the structure.

Based on our assessment of conditions, significance, and integrity, we then are ready to look at treatments for the historic resource. And this is a key part of the historic structure board, and treatment decisions are based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the treatment of historic properties, which come with helpful guidelines in this document is available online. There are four overarching approaches in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards preservation, which focuses on sustaining existing form integrity, and materials rehabilitation, which makes possible a compatible, or continuing use for a property while preserving its historic features to the greatest extent possible. Restoration, which is active process of accurately depicting the property as it appeared at a certain time by removing non-historic features, or reconstructing missing historic features. And finally, reconstruction, which is depicting by new construction, and non-surviving historic resource. So, let's look at examples of those four overarching approaches.

Preservation to sustain the historic resource is often used with reference to historic structures that are no longer used for their original function, and are not being used in a different function. So, an example is these military structures at Fort Pickens unit at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida, which are preserved for interpretation. Rehabilitation, making possible a compatible, or continued use is illustrated by the example of the superintendent's residence at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. This was the residence for the superintendent's for Mammoth Cave National Park during the early years of the park. It's no longer used as a residence, but was rehabilitated on the interior to permit uses offices, and the exterior retains its historic appearance restoration. Accurately depicting the way an historic resource looked at a particular time in its period of significance is illustrated by the A.M.E. Church at Nicodemus National Historic site, Nicodemus Kansas.

This is one of several small buildings built by the community of formerly enslaved people who settled in Nicodemus, and it was built of locally quarried stone, and then later it was covered with stucco that was non-historic. So, the stucco was removed so that the historic appearance of that exterior could be restored. And finally, reconstruction depicting by means of new construction, and non-surviving resource. This is the factory, and administration complex at Pullman National Historic Park in Chicago. And the building was documented through stark structure reports, and in fact, repair, and maintenance documents have been prepared when arson resulted in a fire that caused loss of most of the structures, and the state of Illinois at that time made the effort to reconstruct large portions of the missing building.

There are 10 standards for rehabilitation. There are also standards for preservation, restoration, and reconstruction, but we'll briefly look at rehabilitation, because that's often the most commonly used, and the 10 standards are as follows. The first is that a property will be used as it was historically, or given a compatible new use. The second is that the historic character of a property will be retained, and preserved, so we want to retain the character defining features. The third standard is that each property will be a physical record of its time, place, and use. So, conjectural features will not be added. The fourth is that changes that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and preserved. An example would be the Rookery in Chicago that was designed by Burnham, and Root, and then the interior partially renovated by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The fifth is distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques, or craftsmanship will be preserved. More on that in a moment. The sixth possibly the most often cited, deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. And when replacement is needed, new features will match the old, and will be substantiated by documentary, and physical evidence. Chemical, or physical treatments, we'll use the gentlest means possible. Archeological resources will be protected, and preserved. And then the last two standards pertain to guidance for new additions, alterations, or new construction. Let's look at three standards in a little more detail briefly. So, for standard five, distinctive materials, features, et cetera, will be preserved. This is Bailey Magnet School 1936 in Jackson designed by Overstreet and Town. It's completely constructed of exposed concrete at the entrances, and the picnic tables on-site are concrete, so all character-defining features. Standard six deteriorated features will be repaired rather than replaced, and replacements will match.

These are examples of ornamental features at the Wyoming state Capitol 1890 in Cheyenne. The image on the left show some of the stone deterioration in the center, and right images show redressing of deteriorated stone, and installation of a matching Dutchman carved to match the original. And standard seven treatments shall use the gentlest means possible. Cleaning is perhaps the best, and most common example to illustrate application of this standard. Here are three cleaning trials that show a surface that's inadequately cleaned a surface, and then a surface that's appropriately cleaned. So, we want to avoid damage to historic materials. So, all of these standards guide the development of treatment recommendations for the HSRs. We're now going to look at a small number of case studies in more detail to illustrate the process, and the treatments decided upon. And I'll turn this over to Mike.

MIKE FORD

Thank you, Deborah. Yeah, I'm going to start with Fort Atkinson, which on a side note is one of those projects that really warms your heart because when you're out there, and you're able to talk to the people that live in this community, you see how important this site is to not only the community but the people that live in it. And it really is a testament to the importance of preservation in our society. And it's one of those moments that you're like, you just feel good about yourself for improving, for helping on these resources. So, besides that little segue there Fort Atkinson, it's located in Fort Atkinson, Iowa, which is in the north-eastern part of the state. And we developed a historic structures report, and subsequently repair documents as part of a project that was partially funded by Save America's Treasurer's grant. And so Fort Atkinson was an active fortification between 1840, and 1853, and was a significant part of the forced relocation of the Ho-Chunk nation from their ancestral lands in present-Day Wisconsin.

Now the original fortification consisted of approximately probably over 11 structures that were surrounded by a palisade as well as a number of ancillary structures adjacent, or adjacent to the site. And there we go. So, as you see here in this image, over time they had fallen in disrepair. The two images to the left show what we are, the North Barracks, the bottom one in its present-day state, and the upper one showing how part of the building had collapsed. So, it was in ruins there, partial ruins at least. And then in the foreground up to the right image there you see the foundations of some of the other buildings that were there. This site had extensive archeological survey done from the 1930s all the way to the 2000s, but not a lot had been recorded on the actual built the structures that were still [inaudible 00:39:58] So, the HSR was able to look at those in more detail.

Now, not only was the site significant for significant for the relocation of the Ho-Chunk nation, but also as part of Iowa's early conservation efforts. So, in the 1920s the states purchased the land, and one of their first tasks was to reconstruct a block house. So, that block houses are located on the left side, you see an original block house above, and then the reconstructed block house on the lower image onto the left side there. And so that was a part of another period of significance for this site. The image to the right here is the Powder Magazine, which is a unique structure as well. So, by the time when we're doing the HSR, there are a total of four extant structures. We have the North Barracks, we have the two block houses, one that dates to the 1920s, and the Powder Magazine.

And in our HSR we included a description of the rubble coarse stone construction, a summary of those archeological studies that have been performed to date a detailed description of the observed distress conditions. And also we wanted to sort out that a period of significance in which we could then design our repair documents around, so that we're preserving as much of the original, and significant structures, and materials as possible. Also in our... Move the next slide here. And so as we developed those repair documents, we were looking at some of the structural concerns that were identified during our historic structures report. Specifically, there's portions of the rubble, stone masonry walls that had collapsed, or were beginning to separate. So, there's some significant stabilization that was identified during stabilization in distress conditions identified during the HSR that then we could then develop our repair documents around.

So, they provided a good guidance for us to understand how to develop repairs moving forward. This work was completed in the summer of this last summer, so summer of 2024. I'll then move to another project. It's the Tabby Cabins at Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve is in Florida, and what the cabins are, are there are about 36 similarly sized cabins, and they're arranged in this sort of semi-circular pattern at the entrance to the Kingsley Plantation, which is located within the Timucuan Ecological and Historical Park. And as you see here, there's a unique, they have tabby concrete, which it's kind of a vernacular material made from oyster shells. And the park currently maintained them as ruins as you see here with one cabin that was restored for interpretive purposes. So, on the upper right image you see a detail of what that concrete looks like while we're on site, the bottom image is a restored cabin, and the image to the right is typically what the ruins are currently look like.

And there was a lot of different interpretations, or I should say maintenance practices that were being performed. And so our HSR, one of the requests they had was that the HSR provides some guidance on how to best maintain these resources. So, on the far right you have a very sort of a cementitious coating that was applied over the top of the walls, and you still get an understanding of what that tabby concrete is, whereas the other two images show different application techniques of applying a lime render a thick lime render that concealed the concrete but also in some ways protected it. And were maybe more representative of how that structure, that surface was originally treated. And our HSR identified an approach for treating the concrete that would allow us to interpret what it was, what the material is, as well as preserve it for a longer period of time. Here we did some material studies, and of the concrete itself not only to evaluate its composition but also its conditions that we're observing in the field. And with that, I think I'll pass it to the next case study with Deborah.

DEBORAH SLATON

Thanks, Mike. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta is a historically black neighborhood with commercial, residential, and religious buildings dating from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries. The neighborhood represents the formative years of Dr. King's life from 1929 through 1948. That's a period of significance. And nearby is Ebenezer Baptist Church where King's grandfather, father, and later king himself served as pastors. We developed historic structure reports for eight buildings within the study area, and concurrently the project team with Liz Sargent HLA developed a cultural landscape report for the area. And you could see the different character areas in the colored side here. For the HSR is one of the interesting buildings was fire station number six, which was constructed in 1894, and served the community until the 1990s. It was initially segregated with white firefighters serving a black neighborhood, and in the 1960s it became the second fire station in Atlanta to be racially integrated.

The additional HSRs we developed for this project were all for residential buildings on Auburn Avenue, and the street retains his historic character, but many of the buildings have had significant changes to the interior, some changes to the exterior, and various problems such as structural deficiencies related to changes in use over time. They began a single family houses, and more later rental properties. The overarching treatment for these buildings is rehabilitation. They're used as residences, or as staff for park personnel. The Martin Luther King birth home is a little different. It's especially significant as the focus of King's early years, and we did quite a bit of archival research to understand how the birth home had changed, or been preserved over time. There was a previous HSR for this building to which we developed our report as an update.

And treatment recommendations were focused on preserving, and restoring historic fabric, and providing guidance for maintenance of the building as well as recommendations for accessibility, and improvements to the visitor experience while protecting the historic fabric. The interior also retained quite a bit of its historic character, so the goal is to allow visitors to understand the history of the house, and its setting while protecting the historic resource. And Tim will take us through one more case study.

TIM PENICH

Thank you, Deborah. This is the St. Elizabeth's West Campus. St. Elizabeth's, originally known as the Government Hospital for the Insane, was the first federally funded mental hospital in the country, and it dates to the 1850s. It's a national historic landmark, and WJE was engaged to develop almost 60 historic structure reports for the historic buildings on campus to guide future development, and reuse. The campus has since been reused by the General Services Administration, and its currently houses a number of federal agencies. Here's some historic photos of the center building, which was the original main building on campus, constructed in the 1850s, and designed by Thomas U. Walter, who at the time was the architect of the capitol. You can see at the top the building as it appeared in its early years at the bottom. As it appeared during our site work in 2009, this portion of the hospital campus was no longer used by the early 2000s. And currently as it looks following its renovation. Rehabilitation I should say.

The campus has a wide variety of different building styles, and is significant as it reflects changes in psychiatric care over the years as well as the different architectural styles seen on campus. Here's some historic photos along the top of different structures on the campus as well as how the buildings appeared during the site. Work related to the preparation of the historic structure report. Following the completion of the historic structures reports, WJE was involved with the rehabilitation design for some of the buildings on campus. One in particular, this is Atkins Hall. You can see historic buildings on the left as it appeared while still in use at the top in circa 2009 during our site work.

And then a building a photo of the structure as it neared completion following its rehabilitation. In addition to the HSRs development of repair documents, WJE was also engaged to perform HABS, and HALS documentation with Leslie Schwartz Photography of Chicago, and Mills + Schnoering Architects. And these were completed concurrently with the historic structure report as many of the buildings were being rehabilitated, and reused. These documents helped provide a record of the building. Before this work was completed. WJE was responsible for the development of the narrative portion of the HABS documentation.

DEBORAH SLATON

Thank you, Tim. In conclusion, we thought we'd show some examples of the completed work product for some of the HSRs we've discussed today. They're available online, and if they are done for federal agencies, then they are typically public information. Here's some of the related studies that can be done in concert with an HSR, or if previously prepared can be useful sources of information for an HSR. And as previously mentioned, the HSR can provide the basis for design, and construction documents for treatment. Here's some reference documents that might be useful to those preparing, or commissioning. HSRs, and links are also provided to participants in this webinar. And finally, as illustrated in this presentation, the historic structure reports are a valuable resource for stewardship.

They can be record documents that sit on a shelf to show how the resource existed at a point in time, but more importantly, they don't stay on the shelf, they can be used in the field, they can be used in developing repair, design, or maintenance procedures, and they can be updated over time. And perhaps the best compliment we've received on any of these reports is I use your report all the time. Thank you.

LIZ PIMPER

All right, thank you Deborah. Thanks Tim, and Mike. All right, let's take the first question. Is the HSR a one-time effort, or does it need to be regularly updated? If yes, how frequent does the update need to be?

DEBORAH SLATON

I'll start, we have updated several existing HSRs, and the timing depends on what's happened to the building, and what the needs are for the building, or structure. So, if for example, there's a change in use that might precipitate updating the HSR if there's a change in condition. For example, if an historic resource is damaged by a weather event, or some other disaster, then certainly that would require an HSR, so there's no fixed time period. I would say the ones we've updated have typically been more than 10 years old.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. What is a general timeframe for preparing, and publishing a historic structure report?

TIM PENICH

It can depend based on the complexity of the building. Sometimes for some larger government buildings with reviews by different agencies, it can extend from about to about 20 to 24 months from notice to proceed to completion of the final report. For smaller buildings for either private owners, or local governments, that can be a much shorter period ranging to about a couple months in time.

LIZ PIMPER

Do clients come to you already knowing that they need an HSR, or is the HSR a supplemental service to a related professional service?

MIKE FORD

I  think I'll field this one. Sometimes they do come to us with an HSR is defined, especially with some of our government clients. Other times as indicated in some of the slides I was presenting, that they come to us with a condition assessment, and we have that kind of ability to discuss with them the benefits of an HSR versus a condition assessment. And in some cases it might be the client is working with us on a different project, or a different component of this project, and understand through our conversation, or that an HSR might be appropriate for their project.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. Is it fair to say that the HSR is a more technical, and comprehensive version of an engineering reserve study?

DEBORAH SLATON

It's certainly different, and I would say more comprehensive, but it's not quite the same. So, a reserve study is similar in that it's planning for future maintenance, and it's evaluating condition in order to make the recommendations, and a budget for what's needed in future maintenance. The HSR may, or may not include budget, and cost information, but it also includes the context of history, and analysis. So, there's a bit of overlap, but there are different types of documents. And yes, the HSR is more comprehensive.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. What happens when the building's strength, or stability falls below modern standards of safety? For example, resistance to wind, and, or seismic. In the UK we have listed buildings which lead to very restrictive measures, which can apply, but we don't have seismic retrofit requirements.

DEBORAH SLATON

That's a great question. And I think the simplest answer is the HSR would look at defining treatment recommendations that follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, and preserve as much historic fabric as possible while allowing the structural changes that are needed. And we actually encounter this fairly regularly, both with needed seismic retrofit, and with other types of structural intervention. For example, we were developing an HSR for a museum at Tuskegee Institute. That's where George Washington Carver had his botanical laboratories, and discovered a failure of a truss in the building during the HSR assessment. So, there had to be an inappropriate intervention designed at that point.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. Next question. For rehab of a national register listed bridge, is it considered acceptable to totally replace in kind, excuse me, totally replace in kind, deteriorated concrete elements while retaining all CDFs, and still meet the Secretary of Interior's Standards?

DEBORAH SLATON

That's a great question. Mike, and I are working on an historic bridge right now, and we've all worked on many in the past. I would say complete replacement of concrete features is something that we should generally avoid, but certainly with bridges, while we want to retain the historic fabric as much as we can, there often need to be changes to meet the required load ratings, or to address safety concerns. So, for example, we might strive to retain the abutments, which are character defining, but document for record purposes, and then replace the bridge deck, which is less visibly character-defining. And there's quite a bit of published guidance about working with historic bridges, but typically through the state DOTs rather than the National Park Service.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. Are there guidelines for accessibility when restoring historic structures, or is it just case by case?

DEBORAH SLATON

There are guidelines that National Park Service actually has publication on accessibility for historic structures that can be referenced alongside ADA, and ABAS requirements.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. Another Department of Transportation-related question. This person said as a project reviewer for the North Dakota DOT, we see evaluations of NRHP integrity relative to the stated NRHP significance, but also evaluations where structural condition is treated as independent, or even superseding NRHP significance. Should the HSR incorporate both approaches?

DEBORAH SLATON

My opinion, yes. Mike, or Tim, do you want to add to that?

TIM PENICH

I would just say yes, we would, if there were structural concerns, and just speaking more from a building standpoint, we would incorporate those, and provide recommendations on how to address those, and do our best to also... Not do our best, but to make those necessary repairs in keeping with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards.

DEBORAH SLATON

I would add for bridges, it's very important in an HSR for a bridge that there be a structural analysis that looks at both the historic condition of the bridge, and its current use. And that has to be really properly understood in order to make those decisions. And remember the HSR is not the design document, but it sets the basis for future design of the retrofit, et cetera.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. I think we've got time for one more question. How do you recommend handling historic features, or elements that were originally poorly designed, or constructed but are undeniably historic features of a structure?

DEBORAH SLATON

We encounter that often as well as historic features that are problematic today because of safety considerations, or health considerations. For example, asbestos-containing materials that are certainly historic but problematic for reuse of the structure. And in those cases, a poorly performing feature, or a problematic feature. The Secretary of the Interior's Standards do provide guidance, and allow leeway for replacement of problematic features. Typically, in addition to finding a compatible, and appropriate replacement material, and matching the appearance, we usually are required, or recommend documenting the historic feature that needs to be removed, or replaced. So, part of the HSR can be compliance documentation if changes are anticipated.

LIZ PIMPER

Okay. Like I said, I think that is all the time that we have for questions today. Thank you, Deborah, and thanks Tim, and Mike. It was an excellent presentation. Fascinating. And thank you all for hanging on with us for a few more minutes. We hope it was educational. So, again, thank you so much for your time, and we hope you have a great rest of the day.