Page 34 - State College, PA Design Guidelines

06.28.2018 •

Planning a Preservation Project

When planning a preservation project, it is important to determine the
significance of the property and the degree to which it retains its integrity
as a historic resource. Then, a specific approach to the overall treatment of
the property should be established. This may include keeping the building in
its current character, while making appropriate repairs, or also incorporating
new, compatible changes. It is then important to determine how surviving
character-defining features will be treated. Preserve those features that
remain intact, repair those that are deteriorated and replace others. These
steps in planning a preservation project are presented in this section.

STEP 1: DETERMINE BUILDING
SIGNIFICANCE

Understanding the history of a building is important to any preservation
project. If the property is determined to be an individual resource or a
contributor to the district, then it is important to identify why. Identifying
the building’s character-defining features and its period of significance are
important first steps. This will help determine to what degree the property
should be preserved as it is, or where there may be opportunities for
compatible alterations to occur.

STEP 2: DETERMINE BUILDING INTEGRITY

A building’s character-defining features contribute to the overall significance
of the building. A building with historic integrity retains a sufficient
percentage of character-defining features from its period of significance.
These key elements allow a building to be recognized as a product of its
time.

STEP 3: DEFINE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

If restoring features is the focus, then other alternatives may not be
necessary, but if some functional improvements are needed, then compatible
alterations and/or additions may be indicated.

STEP 4: DETERMINE THE TREATMENT

STRATEGY FOR A BUILDING
A preservation project may include a range of activities, such as
maintenance of existing historic elements, repair of deteriorated materials,
the replacement of missing features and construction of a new addition.
While the term “preservation” is used broadly to mean keeping a historic
property’s character-defining features, it is also used in a more specific,
technical form to mean keeping a resource in good condition. This, and other
related terms, are important to understand because they are all used when
planning for improvements to a historic resource. Also note, that while an
overall treatment for the building may be used, a different treatment may be
applied to a specific building component.

28 STATE COLLEGE, PA • HERITAGE STATE COLLEGE DESIGN GUIDELINES