Historic-era buildings and structures exist in many different shapes and sizes and, as such, have a multitude of complicated concerns that come with them for any project. A particular concern is the potential to adversely affect or significantly impact an important historical building or structure. ECORP is a leader in developing innovative and practical solutions for addressing adverse effects to historic properties that may occur as a result of any complicated project. ECORP is known for developing well planned cultural resources mitigation strategies and effectively and efficiently executing those strategies for all types of clients and projects. The result is a streamlined project with happy clients, satisfied federal and/or state agencies, and often a very pleased public who gets to enjoy the contributions to history.
The list of mitigation solutions that ECORP has developed has extended beyond typical Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) mitigation for historic properties, to other strategies such as Educational/Interpretive Panels placed on public walking trails, curation of historical artifacts at local museums, and implementing other preservation techniques following the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards (SOI) for Treatment of Historic Properties.
ECORP is currently engaged in a high-profile project in Sacramento that will require unique strategies for the historic preservation and management of a neon sign. The problem is that the building supporting the sign is proposed for partial demolition and subsurface soil remediation. The neon sign, according to public opinion, is an important contributor to the historical aspects of the community and represents the developments of Sacramento during the post-WWII and Cold War era. Though the building itself may not have historical significance and may be partially demolished without mitigation, the neon sign ultimately will still require some form of management following the SOI Standards.
The project is not yet complete but ECORP has devised a few solutions to the problem. Those solutions may include placing the neon sign at an alternative location in the same setting but on a different building; preserving the neon sign during demolition of the old building and placing it on the newly constructed building in the same place as before; or donating the neon sign to the Center for Sacramento History for permanent archival preservation. Each of these solutions will result in the project moving forward without any cultural resource-caused delays. In addition, the federal and state agencies will be fully satisfied with the mitigation solution and the public will be happy that preservation is taking place even for their local historical interests.
For an innovative solution to your unique or complicated historic preservation problem, contact Architectural Historian Jeremy Adams at (916) 782-9100 and let us help you!
